Ministry of Justice

Prison Officers: Vacancies

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many vacancies for band (a) three, (b) four and (c) five prison officers there are as of 16 April 2024, by (i) prison and (ii) region.

Edward Argar: We are doing more than ever to attract and retain the best staff, including boosting salaries and launching our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign. These efforts are working - we have over 4,800 FTE additional officers between March 2017 and December 2023 and retention rates for prison staff are improving.Our latest published HMPPS workforce statistics present data up to 31 December 2023. While you have asked for data as at 16 April 2024, we are unable to provide data for periods following December 2023 as this could pre-empt the next set of published Staff in Post data, which will be released on Thursday 16 May 2024. Once updated staffing data have been published in May, including data up to 31 March 2024, we will then be able to consider questions related to vacancy data up to and including March 2024.In December 2023, across the whole of the Public Sector Prison estate in England and Wales (including the Youth Custody Service) for Band 3-5 Prison Officers, Staff in Post was 63 FTE below the Target Staffing level. This figure is a combination of indicative vacancies at prisons with Staff in Post below their Target Staffing level and the indicative number of surplus staff at other prisons where Staff in Post is above their Target Staffing level. Where possible, prisons with surplus staff are likely to be sending those staff to work on Detached Duty at prisons with vacancies. At times, we have intentionally over-recruited in certain prisons or regions to give the system wider resilience and where prisons are not at their Target Staffing level. Use of Detached Duty, a long-standing mechanism to deploy staff from one prison or region to support another, is also not reflected in the indicative vacancies number.In December 2023, there were just under 790 FTE Band 3-5 Prison Officer indicative vacancies across individual Public Sector Prison establishments in England and Wales, where Staff in Post was below their Target Staffing level, and just over 720 FTE indicative number of surplus staff across individual Public Sector Prison establishments, in establishments where Staff in Post was above their Target Staffing level.Table One (below) shows the total Band 3, Band 4 and Band 5 Prison Officer indicative vacancies (FTE) across Public Sector Prisons England & Wales, by region, as of December 2023. Table Two attached shows total Band 3, Band 4 and Band 5 Prison Officer indicative vacancies (FTE) across Public Sector Prisons England & Wales, by region, December 2023. Table One: Total Band 3, Band 4 and Band 5 Prison Officer indicative vacancies (FTE) across Public Sector Prisons England & Wales, by region (summed from the establishment level in Annex A), December 2023 RegionBand 3 Indicative VacanciesBand 4 Indicative VacanciesBand 5 Indicative VacanciesAvon, South Dorset and Wiltshire Prisons3065 Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk Prisons10136 Cumbria & Lancashire Prisons065 Devon and North Dorset Prisons1230 East Midlands Prisons22714 Greater Manchester, Merseyside & Cheshire Prisons084 Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk Prisons1180 Kent, Surrey and Sussex Prisons59109 London Prisons133622 Long Term High Security Estate - North12237 Long Term High Security Estate - South2594933 North East Prisons01210 North Midlands Prisons087 South Central Prisons48257 West Midlands Prisons01015 Women's Prison Group2539 Yorkshire Prisons4410 Youth Custody Services*--31 Wales3641  541237 196 * In addition, there were 76 FTE vacancies across the Band 3 and 4 grades combined for the Youth Custody Services. In the Youth Custody Services there are a considerable number of staff employed at Band 3 grade working against the Band 4 target as they work towards becoming Band 4 Youth Justice Workers. As a result, we have merged the Band 3 and 4 grades for these five institutions.Notes on data in this responseAll data is taken from Workforce Planning Tool returns and shows the average position across the month (as of December 2023), adjusted for joiners and leavers in the month.Data only covers Public Sector Prison establishments (including the four Young Offenders Institutions (Cookham Wood, Feltham, Werrington and Wetherby)) in England and Wales (and the Youth Custody Service) and will not reflect any Band 3 – 5 Prison Officers who are working in headquarters establishments (e.g. area offices), Public Sector Prisons in Wales or Privately Managed Prisons.Workforce Planning Tool returns are manually completed by staff in prisons each month and, as with any manual returns, are subject to human error.Indicative vacancies are the difference between Target Staffing levels and Staff in Post across the entire Public Sector Prison estate in England and Wales at prisons (and the Youth Custody Service) with Staff in Post below their Target Staffing level. Indicative surpluses are the difference between Target Staffing levels and Staff in Post across the entire Public Sector Prison estate in England and Wales (and the Youth Custody Service) at prisons where Staff in Post is above their Target Staffing level.In Table One we have summed indicative vacancies at the Public Sector Prison establishment level to produce the table showing indicative vacancies at the regional level.Target Staffing level is the number of staff required to run an optimal regime in each prison. This level is greater than the minimum number of staff required for a prison to operate safely, and includes allowances for staff taking leave, being off sick or being on training.The Target Staffing Figures are set on a site-specific basis and vary in size.Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (including specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.Target Staffing levels are established based on a 39-hour working week. Staff in Post (FTE) is set at 1.0 FTE for those on a 39-hour contract / 1.05 FTE for those on a 41-hour contract and 0.95 FTE for those on a 37-hour contract.Target Staffing levels cannot be used to directly calculate vacancies due to the discretion governors have to change establishment level staffing requirements through Governors' Freedoms. As a result, the MoJ does not currently regularly present vacancy data and the data presented should be treated as indicative.Staff in Post data used to calculate an indicative number of vacancies does not take into account those on long-term absences (e.g. career breaks) / loans / secondments / agency staff or other forms of overtime.There will be some prisons in our data who appear to have a surplus of staff at the Band 3 or Band 4 grades whereas in reality some of these staff are temporarily promoted to more senior grades. Temporary promotions will not be visible in this data and so these roles will appear as vacancies.PQ 22023_table_two (xlsx, 23.5KB)

Gender Based Violence

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure swift justice for victims of violence against women and girls.

Laura Farris: The Government is taking concerted action to ensure swift justice for victims of VAWG.This includes delivering the end-to-end Rape Review Action Plan to improve the justice system’s response to adult rape, which has seen Crown Court receipts more than double since 2019.The Department has also been increasing capacity in the Crown Court, including delivering over 107,000 additional sitting days in Crown Courts; opening two permanent ‘super courtrooms’ in Manchester and Loughborough; increasing criminal legal aid spending by £141 million per year; investing over £220 million for essential modernisation and repair work of court buildings; and investing further in judicial recruitment and retention.Further to this, we are doing more than ever to ensure victims receive the support they need, including quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10.

Ministry of Justice: ICT

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, updated on 29 February 2024, when his Department first assessed each of the red-rated legacy IT systems in (a) his Department and (b) HM Courts and Tribunals Service to be red-rated.

Mike Freer: We completed an assessment of our critical systems against the CDDO’s legacy technology measures in July 2023, identifying the red rated system during that process.HMCTS first assessed the red-rated legacy IT systems in October 2022 as part of their Decommissioning and Legacy Risk Mitigation (DLRM) programme.

Prisoners' Release

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people that had served sentences of 12 months or less were released from custody without a permanent address in the latest period for which data is available.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people who were released from remand had no fixed address in each of the last three years.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people on community sentences were assessed under the offender assessment system as lacking stable accommodation in the last year for which figures are available.

Edward Argar: We are delivering our groundbreaking transitional accommodation service, known as Community Accommodation Service – Tier 3 (CAS-3), so prison-leavers who are subject to probation supervision have a guaranteed 12-weeks of basic, temporary accommodation to provide a stable base on release. By January 2023, the proportion of offenders housed on the first night of their release from custody was 7.6 percentage points higher in CAS3 regions versus non-CAS3 regions.Data for accommodation outcomes on the first night of release from custody, broken down by sentence length, is published in the Community Performance Annual Statistics.Data for accommodation outcomes for people on community sentences is not collected at commencement of order; however, data from the case management system in relation to accommodation 3 months after commencement is published.Latest statistics for April 2022 to March 2023 for both are available here: Community Performance Annual, update to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).Accommodation data for releases from remand could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Judgements: Registration

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish the results of his Department's consultation on Including claimant data on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines, which closed 16 January 2024.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is taking steps to publish claimant data for (a) County Court Judgements and (b) the Courts Service.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to allow claimant data for County Court Judgements to be published.

Mike Freer: The Ministry of Justice intends to publish a response to the consultation on including claimant names on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines (the Register) in due course. That response will set out whether the Government intends to bring forward legislation to allow for the publication of claimant names on the Register.

Prisons: Restraint Equipment

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2024 to Question 17264 on Prisons: Restraint Equipment, how many Nico 9 stun grenades were used in prisons in each year since 2015.

Edward Argar: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners' Release: Employment

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of prison leavers are employed six months after their release.

Edward Argar: We know that employment reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. In order to grow, businesses need skills and labour to fill the nearly one million vacancies in the UK right now. Prison leavers have a role to play in filling those vacancies, particularly in sectors with skills shortages such as construction and hospitality, that the economy needs to grow, while also cutting crime and delivering safer streets. That’s why we’ve invested heavily in delivering key employment reforms across 93 resettlement prisons, including:Prison Employment Leads to match prisoners to jobs;Employment Hubs where prisoners can access job vacancies and support with applications;Employment Advisory Boards – chaired by business leaders and advise prisons on skills delivery. I am pleased to say that the proportion of prison leavers in employment six months after release more than doubled from 14% in April 2021 to over 30% in March 2023. The next release of this data will be published this summer

Offenders: Ethnic Groups

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the ethnicity of offenders convicted of theft in each of the last 12 months.

Mike Freer: The Ministry of Justice holds data on the ethnicity of offenders convicted of theft offences covering the period requested and these are published and can be viewed in Outcomes by Offence tool: June 2023.The tool allows users to select offences (in this case Offence ’04: Theft offences’). Yearly totals can be broken down by quarter using the Quarter variable.The ethnicity of the offenders can be found by using either the Ethnicity or Detailed Ethnicity filter. Furthermore, the number of convictions by ethnicity can be seen by dragging the Ethnicity or Detailed Ethnicity from Filters to Rows in the PivotTable Fields.

Funerals: Regulation

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will further regulate the funeral industry.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to set up an independent regulator for the funeral sector.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has had at recent discussions with cabinet colleagues on the regulation of the funeral sector.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to consult on the regulation of the funeral sector.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the (a) adequacy and (b) effectiveness of self-regulation within the funeral sector.

Mike Freer: We have accepted that some form of regulation of the funeral sector is required. My officials have therefore been working on a plan to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of the self-regulation regimes introduced by the two main representative bodies, and to launch a call for evidence.The call for evidence will be launched before summer recess and will gather views on what type of regulation is appropriate and proportionate. Following this, we will develop and consult on proposals for the regulation of the sector. There are a number of possible routes for regulation including introducing an independent regulator. It is too early at this stage to say which is most appropriate.I have discussed the regulation of the Funeral Sector with cabinet colleagues, and am working particularly closely with Minister Hoare on the short-term response to the tragic events in Hull and East Rising.

Prisoners' Release: Homelessness

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of prison leavers were homeless in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: Data on accommodation outcomes on the first night of release from custody is published in the Community Performance Annual Statistics. Data is only available from 2017/18 onwards. From this point, accommodation performance metrics were introduced to the probation performance framework with reliable data not available for previous years. The data can be found here: Prison and Probation Performance Statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). We are delivering our ground-breaking transitional accommodation service, known as Community Accommodation Service – Tier 3 (CAS-3), so prison-leavers have a guaranteed 12 weeks of basic, temporary accommodation to provide a stable base on release. By January 2023, the proportion of offenders housed on the first night of their release from custody was 7.6 percentage points higher in CAS3 regions versus non-CAS3 regions.

Ministry of Justice: Labour Turnover

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff left his Department in each year since 2015.

Mike Freer: The table below shows the headcount of leavers in the 12 month period to 31 December for each year since 2015.Headcount of leavers for MOJ (including HMPPS) in the 12 months to 31 December, from 2015 to 2023 Includes MOJ HQ, HMPPS, HMCTS, OPG, LAA, and CICA Headcount of Leavers12 months to 31 December 202311,30312 months to 31 December 202212,28512 months to 31 December 202110,48812 months to 31 December 2020718412 months to 31 December 2019845612 months to 31 December 2018736012 months to 31 December 2017643212 months to 31 December 2016692712 months to 31 December 20156329 NotesIncludes leavers from MoJ HQ, HMPPS, HMCTS, LAA, OPG, and CICA.Internal transfers between HMPPS and the other MoJ agencies, and vice versa, will be included in these figures but all other internal transfers are excluded.Number of leavers will be proportional to the size of the overall business, and therefore these figures should be considered within this context.A number of calendar years within this period will have been affected by COVID-19.

Prisons and Young Offenders: Mental Health Services

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) male prisoners, (b) women prisoners and (c) young offenders were transferred to hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983 in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: Under sections 47/49 and 48/49 of the Mental Health Act 1983, the Secretary of State may authorise by warrant the transfer of prisoners to a secure hospital, where he is satisfied that the criteria for detention are met by the aforementioned Act. The requested data are set out in the tables below for the years 2013 to 2022 and are taken from an electronic casework system. Providing data for the years from 2010 to 2013 would require substantial manual checks of paper files which could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost. The data for 2023 are due to be published on 26 April.  TRANSFER YEARSEX2013201420152016201720182019202020212022Female109104117111111118130109103142Male887956898875854895924921995930Total9961060101598696510131054103010981072TRANSFER YEARAGE BAND201320142015201620172018201920202021202218 and over97610399959729469961028101210881062Under 1820252114191826181010Total9961064101698696510141054103010981072 Notes We have interpreted young offender to mean those aged under 18 at time of transferThese figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording systems are subject to possible errors with data entry and processingWhere patients are admitted more than once, each admission is counted separately Data Source: Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD)We are committed to delivering improvements to mental health care and treatment for vulnerable offenders through non-legislative means. This includes improving oversight of the 28-day time limit for transfers to hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983 and increasing judicial awareness of alternatives to custody through the expansion of the Bail Information Service.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison staff required hospital treatment following a prisoner assault in each year since 2015.

Edward Argar: The number of incidents of a prisoner assault leading to a prison staff member requiring hospital treatment 2018-2022 can be found in the attached table. Data on staff assaults for the calendar year 2023 is subject to future publication on 25 April, in ‘Safety in custody: quarterly update to December 2023’.Changes were made to the recording of assaults in April 2017 that affects the reporting of hospitalisation. This change means that a comparable time series for this question can only be provided from 2018 onwards.Staff must be able to expect a safe and decent work environment. We will not tolerate any violence against prison officers, and prisoners who are violent towards staff will face the full consequences of their actions.We are committed to making prisons a safe place to work and providing prison officers with the right support, training and tools to empower them to do their jobs.To protect staff and prisoners in very serious assaults, we have rolled out PAVA – a synthetic pepper spray – for use by prison officers in the adult male estate. Staff are able to use the PAVA spray where there is serious violence or an imminent or perceived risk of it.We have rolled out a new Body Worn Video Camera system which has increased the overall number of cameras across public sector prisons to over 13,000. This enables every operational band 3-5 officer on shift to wear a camera. They are supported by a new Policy Framework which mandates the wearing of the cameras.

Prisons: Dogs

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2024 to Question 17263 on Prisons: Dogs, how many times the National Dog and Technical Support Group were deployed in prisons in each year since 2015.

Edward Argar: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners' Release

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure prison leavers are aware of the resettlement services available.

Edward Argar: Effective resettlement of prison leavers is a core part of our efforts to reduce re-offending. This includes making sure someone has a home, family links where appropriate, access to healthcare, a job or further education, and/or access to benefits. Probation practitioners in the community coordinate the overall rehabilitation of offenders as they leave prison and serve their licence, supported by Pre-Release Teams (PRT) who provide support to address identified immediate resettlement needs and pre-release support for all people in prison. The immediate resettlement needs of all prisoners are assessed on entry to prison and reviewed pre-release. Utilising both prison-based services and Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS), there is a wide range of resettlement support covering accommodation, employment, dependency and recovery, personal wellbeing and finance, benefit and debt services. CRS also offers a ‘mentoring’ service, which can be delivered pre-release and follow offenders through the gate for those being released on licence to support community integration. Community probation practitioners and PRTs work proactively with prisoners to build pre-release plans and refer into these services to ensure that the right support is in place for release. In addition, we have also introduced employment hubs where prisoners can access job vacancies and support with applications, and Prison Employment Leads who support with work-readiness and match them to jobs on release. To further improve awareness for prison leavers, we are introducing Resettlement Passports, which will bring together key information and services that an individual needs in one place to resettle into the community, such as bank accounts, CVs and identity documents to prove the right to work and rent, as well as appointment and contact information to enable prison leavers to engage with resettlement services available.

Prisoner Escorts

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many magistrates court hearings have been delayed or could not go ahead due to a (a) failure to deliver a prisoner and (b) delay in bringing a prisoner to court by (i) SERCO and (ii) other providers of escort services since 2017, by court.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions prisoners were delivered late to (a) a magistrates’ court hearing and (b) a Crown Court hearing, by each court, since 2017.

Gareth Bacon: It is not possible to provide the information requested without detailed examination of individual records for more than 220 courts, across two Prisoner Escort and Custody Services contract generations (Generation 3, 2011 – 2020, and Generation 4, 2020 – 2030), and this would incur disproportionate cost.

Probation: Vacancies

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many vacancies in the probation service there are as of 16 April 2024, by region.

Edward Argar: I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on Wednesday 20 March to Question 18474. Data was provided on the average number of vacancies for the month of December 2023, in line with our latest published workforce statistics (which present data up to 31 December 2023).We are unable to provide a more up-to-date number of vacancies at the current time (for periods following December 2023) as this would pre-empt the next set of published data, which will be released on Thursday 16 May 2024. Once updated staffing data have been published in May, including data up to 31 March 2024, we will then be able to respond to questions for vacancy data up to and including March 2024.Recruitment and retention remain a priority across the Probation Service and we have injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year since 2021 to deliver more robust supervision, recruit more staff and reduce caseloads to keep the public safer.We have recruited a record 4,039 trainee Probation Officers between 2020/21 and 2022/23 and we expect these intakes to qualify by the end of 2024 and begin to take on Probation Officer caseloads.

Young Offender Institutions: Prison Accommodation

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of hours spent out of their cell by inmates was on (a) weekdays and (b) weekend days in each young offender institution in February 2024.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of hours spent out of their cell by inmates was on (a) weekdays and (b) weekend days in Oakhill Secure Training Centre in February 2024.

Edward Argar: The information requested regarding average time-out-of-room spent by children and young people in young offender institutions during February 2024 is shown in the table below. Cookham Wood Feltham Parc Werrington Wetherby Weekdays 3:245:028:304:066:25Weekends 2:013:495:473:104:33The average time spent out-of-room each day by children and young people at Oakhill Secure Training Centre in February 2024 was 13 hours. As information about Oakhill Secure Training Centre is collated on a different basis from information about young offender institutions, it is not possible to provide the requested breakdown between weekdays and weekends.We know the importance of ensuring that time in custody is purposeful and are committed to ensuring that children and young people have the necessary and appropriate access to education, skills, and work provision with a consistent daily programme of activities.The Youth Custody Service is reviewing regime models and staff deployment to maximise time out of room, creating as open a regime as it is safe to do so, as well as providing education and enrichment for those who cannot safely be in a classroom setting.  Additionally, work done to reduce conflict and manage behaviour, to increase the size of groups who are mixing in the regime, has increased time out of room.

Probation: Resignations

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many trainee probation officers have resigned from the service within (a) one week, (b) one month and (c) three months of starting their role as a trainee probation officer.

Edward Argar: The recruitment team has worked extensively to improve candidate experience by broadening the information and communication channels available to potential applicants, to help reduce attrition. This includes interactive webinars for successful candidates to ensure new trainees are starting the role with a clear understanding of their responsibilities, the organisation, and the trainee programme. We have also reviewed the trainee learning and development curriculum to improve learner experience and have launched a refreshed induction in March 2024.For the period from 16 October 2016 to 31 December 2023, there have generally been two cohorts of Trainee Probation Officers who started training each year. Out of the people undertaking this training:10 individuals resigned in the period up to one week after the start date of their PQiP training course.23 resigned in the period of over a week but up to and including one month after the start date of their PQiP training course.57 resigned in the period of over one month up to and including three months after the start date of their PQiP training course.For the two cohorts across 22/23 there were 1,514 starters, for the two cohorts across 21/22 there were 1,518 starters and for the two cohorts across 20/21 there were 1,007 starters. We are unable to provide data on 23/24 at the current time as this would pre-empt the next set of published data, which will be released on Thursday 16 May 2024.Notes:1. Includes staff on Trainee Probation Officer (PQiP) courses. A considerable majority of these individuals are of the Probation Services Officer grade.2. Resignation date taken as the last day of service. Date that resignation handed in is not available.3. Staff who left for other reasons are not included.5. In order to arrive at this information there had to be some data matching from a trainee probation officer staff list to staff who left to separate out trainees from substantive Probation Services Officers. In instances where data from the staff list was incomplete with data such as relevant staff ID then matching may not have been possible.6. Data on the number of starters each financial year can be found in the March edition of the Probation Officer Recruitment Annex (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6464f746d3231e001332db9d/annex-probation-officer-recruitment-March-2023_final.ods).7. It should be noted that a considerable number of trainees withdraw from PQiP training but remain in HMPPS. For information on withdrawal and leaving rates from PQiP training, please see Table Three of Probation Officer Recruitment Annex.8. In January 2023, a considerable number of PQiPs onboarded early to the Probation Service. For the purposes of this response, we have looked at the time of resignation following the time at which they started their PQiP training course. If any of these individuals left the service before starting their PQiP training course, they have been excluded from this analysis.

Knives: Crime

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people under the age of 18 were convicted of knife crime offences in the year ending March (a) 2023 and (b) 2018; and how many such people were first time offenders.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were convicted of knife crime offences in the year ending March (a) 2023 and (b) 2018; and how many such people were first time offenders.

Edward Argar: In the year ending March 2023, 2,108 children were convicted of a knife crime offence (defined as knife possession and knife threatening offences) and for 1,924 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence. Compared to the year ending March 2018, 2,635 children were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 2,398 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence. In the year ending March 2023, 11,899 people (i.e. adults and children) were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 9,314 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence. Compared to year ending March 2018, 12,163 people were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 9,865 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence. Tackling knife crime is a priority and this Government is determined to do all it can to break the deadly cycle of violence that devastates the lives of individuals, families and communities. We are taking significant action to both prevent and respond to crimes involving weapons through the Serious Violence Strategy, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, the recruitment of 20,000 new police officers, and increasing stop and search powers.

Prisoners: Children

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report by Lay Observers entitled 2022-23 Annual Report, published on 10 April 2024, and the response from the Minister of State published on the same date, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing the report's recommendations on ensuring that children and young people are (a) always transported in vehicles without adult detained persons and (b) looked after and managed by suitably trained staff.

Edward Argar: We are very grateful to the Lay Observers for their invaluable work. We have thoroughly considered their annual report and its recommendations.Timeliness is a key consideration when conveying children and young people to and from court and, in certain circumstances, transport in vehicles with adults may be the appropriate solution. In these cases, the children and young people would be collected and supervised by staff who normally work with adults. This is provided for in the contracts, and our focus is on ensuring that the service provided for in the contracts is delivered.On all occasions when children and young people are transported with adults, the cellular accommodation in the vehicle must be separated by a screen to ensure that the children and young people are kept apart.

Dartmoor Prison: Radon Gas

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he expects radon gas testing to be completed at Dartmoor prison; and what assurances he has been given that there are no safety concerns for the staff and prisoners who remain on site.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of when HMP Dartmoor will return to its full operational capacity following the detection of radon gas in that prison.

Edward Argar: HMP Dartmoor is currently operating at a reduced capacity due to the presence of radon gas in accommodation areas. This is a temporary measure while work to permanently reduce radon levels is completed. The prison will return to its full operational capacity at the earliest possible opportunity following the completion of remedial works to ensure that the accommodation can be safely occupied. A design solution for the remedial works is currently being designed and tested. The health and safety of staff and prisoners remains a top priority for the Department. Testing across all residential areas continues and prisoners have been removed from accommodation where readings were returned at above actionable levels. At all times, the safety and wellbeing of staff and prisoners will be at the heart of our decision making and we are guided by experts in this area. There are no adverse safety implications to staff or prisoners who remain on the site.

Prisons: Naloxone

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of naloxone kits issued (a) within custodial settings in and (b) on release from HM Prisons in each of the last ten years.

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times naloxone has been administered in custodial settings in each of the last ten years.

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many opioid overdoses in custodial settings have (a) been successfully reversed and (b) resulted in fatalities in each of the last ten years.

Edward Argar: The information requested is not held centrally.Naloxone kits have been issued and maintained by individual healthcare providers across the prison estate and have not been supplied by the Ministry of Justice over the time specified in the question.From January 2024, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is coordinating roll-out of Naloxone training on a voluntary basis to prison staff. We will collate data on the use of Naloxone by HMPPS staff as roll-out and usage progresses.The information requested for opioid overdose reversals is not held centrally. In relation to fatalities, ONS data on drug-related deaths includes the number in which opiates are mentioned on the death certificate (which differs from the number of overdoses) – table 7 in this publication Drug-related deaths and suicide in prison custody - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). However, this only covers up to 2019, as it uses data from Coroner’s reports on which there is a considerable time lag. Furthermore, depending on the circumstances, an opioid overdose could be classed as a self-inflicted death or an ‘other: non-natural' death. Therefore, without checking the individual cases, it is not possible to obtain an accurate figure from the wider data, on fatalities.

Prisoners: Carers

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice on 15 December 2021, Official Report, House of Lords, column 401, if he will publish the data his Department has collected on (a) primary carers in prison and (b) the number of their children.

Edward Argar: Our most comprehensive prison population data suggests that, over the course of a year, approximately 200,000 children may be affected by a parent being in, or going to, prison. However, this is based on survey data from 2009 and we recognise the need for a more up to date picture.The Prison Strategy White paper detailed our intention to work with other government departments to commission updated research to improve our collective understanding of the overall number of children affected by parental incarceration.The Government is delivering on its white paper commitment to improve our data and evidence in this area through the Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) Programme. BOLD is a £19.7 million cross government Shared Outcomes Fund programme which is linking data to enable better evidenced and more join up across government services. Through BOLD, we are exploring data sharing and data linking to improve our understanding of the number of children with parents in prison – including data that does not rely on self-disclosure. We expect findings from the project to be published by the end of Spring 2024.

Convictions: Foreign Nationals

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to publish statistics on the (a) nationality and (b) visa status of offenders convicted in England and Wales every 12 months.

Edward Argar: The Ministry of Justice currently publishes the self-declared nationality of those entering custody as well as those in the prison population as part of their quarterly Offender Management Statistics: Offender management statistics quarterly: July to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). We refer all recorded foreign national offenders awarded a custodial sentence to the Home Office who can carry out immigration checks alongside consideration of each case for deportation. An offender’s nationality and immigration status is not routinely collected by the courts. We are working with the Home Office to explore the potential for the publication of further statistical data related to the nationality and immigration status of offenders. The removal of foreign national offenders is a Government priority and my department continues to work closely with the Home Office to maximise the number of deportations. On 11 March, the Government set out a plan to increase the number of foreign national offenders removed through:the recruitment of 400 additional caseworkers and streamlining the end-to-end removal process;extending foreign national conditional cautions to foreign national offenders with limited leave to remain; andamending deportation policy to enable foreign national offenders given suspended sentences of 6 months or more to be considered for deportation. These actions build on our expansion of the Early Removal Scheme to allow for removal of foreign national offenders up to 18 months before the end of the custodial element of their sentence and expediting prisoner transfers with priority countries such as Albania and seeking to conclude new transfer agreements with partner countries. Published figures show that FNO returns have increased following the pandemic, in the latest 12-month period (ending December 2023) by 27% when compared to the previous 12-month period. Between January 2019 and December 2023 17,795 FNOs have been removed.

Reoffenders

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help prevent reoffending by people convicted of violent offences.

Edward Argar: This Government is committed to tackling the causes of reoffending to keep our communities safe. Between 2010/11 and 2020/21, the overall proven reoffending rate has decreased from 31.6% to 24.4%.Rehabilitation is critical to reducing reoffending. It is the process by which we assist people either to change themselves or improve their life circumstances, addressing their drivers of reoffending and therefore cutting crime. Rehabilitation takes many forms, ranging from the delivery of a cognitive behaviour programme to enabling a person to access suitable accommodation and the means to earn a living.HMPPS offers 5 Accredited Programmes specifically designed for those individuals convicted of general, domestic, intimate partner violent offending: Kaizen, Becoming New Me Plus (BNM+), Building Better Relationships (BBR), New Me Strengths (NMS), and Living as New Me (LNM). The Thinking Skills Programme (TSP) is a responsive and flexible Accredited Programme that may be suitable for those offenders who do not meet the eligibility criteria for more specific programmes, as well as the New Me MOT toolkit, offering continuity of support to those who have completed the Kaizen, BNM+, or NMS programmes.In addition to our targeted work to prevent violent crime reoffending, we are also working hard to ensure that prison leavers across the estate have the right building blocks in place to ensure they are successful on release. For example, we are helping prison leavers to secure accommodation, employment, and substance misuse treatment, all of which are essential for rehabilitation and can significantly reduce the likelihood of reoffending. We are also delivering Commissioned Rehabilitative Services which provide offenders with tailored, community-based services to support rehabilitation and drive down reoffending. On top of this, we are expanding the use of electronic monitoring for both community-based sentences and post-custody licence to help reduce the risk of reoffending and support robust offender management.Finally, public protection work is central to the work of the Probation Service. We have also increased our baseline funding by £155 million per annum which is helping us to increase staffing and take other action to improve delivery across HMPPS so that the service can best achieve its purpose of protecting the public and reducing reoffending.

Prisoners' Release: Victims

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure offenders convinced of child criminal exploitation are not released into the same community as the victims on the completion of a custodial sentence.

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to ensure offenders convicted of Child Sexual Exploitation are not released into the same community as the victims on completion of a custodial sentence.

Edward Argar: Individuals convicted of serious sexual, violent and terrorist offences are managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) on release from custody. MAPPA enables the Police, Probation and Prison Services to work together with other agencies to manage the risks posed by these individuals in the community, in order to protect victims and members of the public.All offenders released from custodial sentences before the end of their sentence will be supervised on licence in the community by the Probation Service. Victims who opt in to the Victim Contact Scheme (VCS), which is available for victims of specified sexual or violent offences where the sentence is 12 months or more, have the statutory right to request licence conditions for when the offender is released. Typically, these conditions will include a non-contact condition and exclusion zones, prohibiting the offender from entering areas where the victim lives, works or travels to frequently.Where victims do not qualify for the VCS, the supervising officer in the Probation Service will undertake a risk assessment and may request licence conditions to mitigate identified risks where they relate to victims of the index offence.Licence conditions end when the offender completes his/her sentence. However, where the Police have concerns about an offender’s ongoing risk to a victim or the general public, they may apply may apply to the Magistrates Court for the imposition of a civil order, which may place restrictions or obligations on the offender which replicate some of the protections of the licence.

Gambling: Crime

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) persons arrested by the police (b) prisoners and (c) offenders on probation who are affected by harmful gambling.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) prisoners and (b) offenders on probation affected by harmful gambling are receiving (i) treatment and (ii) other support during their sentence.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department plans to spend on (a) assessments, (b) referrals and (c) support for (i) offenders and (ii) victims who are affected by harmful gambling in the 2024-25 financial year.

Edward Argar: This information is not held centrally.The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of persons arrested by the police. No national estimate has been made. Probation staff assess individual needs and can assist with referrals to local or national services to address gambling or to access debt counselling services where appropriate. In custody, all prisoners are seen by NHS healthcare on reception and can be referred to addiction services to help address problem gambling.HMPPS are also working with NHS and other partners to better understand the evidence around gambling addiction. This will inform a more joined up, cross system approach to effective support and recovery.

Prisons: Staff

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hours of corruption prevention training are provided to non-uniformed prison staff.

Edward Argar: The vast majority of prison staff are hardworking and dedicated. A minority of staff engage in corrupt activity which is often as a result of conditioning and manipulation by prisoners.Our Counter Corruption Unit led Awareness sessions, delivered by our Prevent team, run between two and two and a half hours, dependent on staff involvement on the day. We do not record this as hours delivered, but sessions, and we have delivered 2544 sessions since April 2021.Data collection/recording methods changed in January 2023 to reflect the number of attendees to these sessions. Since then, over 9702 staff have been trained in total. They changed again in June 2023 to record those that were of an operational grade. From June 2023 onwards, 2602 non-operational staff received training.This Corruption Prevention training is in addition to the induction security training package delivered to non-operational staff by local establishments for new starters, which will be establishment specific in terms of length.

Serious Crime Prevention Orders

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many serving prisoners are subject to serious crime prevention orders in England and Wales.

Edward Argar: Data on how many serving prisoners are subject to serious crime prevention orders is not currently held and would only be available at disproportionate costs.

Prison Officers: Resignations

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers who joined in 2023 resigned within (a) 14 and (b) 30 days of the start of their employment.

Edward Argar: The quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication covers staffing information, including joiners and leavers, and the latest publication covers data up to 31 December 2023.In the 12 months to 31 December 2023 there were 5,066 Band 3-5 Prison Officers1 who joined2 HMPPS. Of these, 66 resigned3,4 within the period up to and including 14 days, and an additional 33 resigned3,4 in the period of 15 days to 30 days after joining. Notes1. Includes Bands 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.2. New recruits joining HMPPS - does not include internal transfers or conversions.3. Resignation date taken as the last day of service. Date that resignation handed in is not available.4. Staff who left for other reasons are not included.

Prison Accommodation

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Written Statement of 11 March 2024 on Update on Foreign National Offenders, Prisons and Probation, HCWS332, whether the new 10,000 prison places include rapid deployment cells.

Edward Argar: We are delivering 20,000 additional, modern prison places, the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era, ensuring the right conditions are in place to rehabilitate prisoners, helping to cut crime and protect the public. So far c.5,900 places have been delivered.Of these places, we have so far delivered c.670 Rapid Deployment Cells (RDCs) across 12 sites. By the end of 2025 we are on track to have delivered around 10,000 places in total, this will include hundreds more RDCs. We are looking at all options to accelerate delivery of all types of places across the estate.

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign nationals held in the prison estate have previously been detained after conviction.

Edward Argar: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. This is because it would require data linking between prison data and the Ministry of Justice extract of the police national computer.

Family Courts

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many open family cases there are in each Designated Family Judge area for (a) public and (b) private family law; and what proportion of those cases in each area involve litigants in person in (i) 31 March 2011, (ii) 31 March 2016 and (iii) 31 March 2019.

Mike Freer: The information requested is provided in the data tables below and is taken from HMCTS administrative data systems. We have not been able to provide figures for 2011 as this data was not recorded centrally before 2014.Count of the Private and Public Law Open Caseload as at the 31st March 2016 broken down by representative 1,2 Public Law3 Open CaseloadPrivate Law Open CaseloadDESIGNATED FAMILY JUDGE AREABoth Applicant and Respondent were representedApplicant only representedRespondent only representedNeither Applicant nor Respondent RepresentedBoth Applicant and Respondent were representedApplicant only representedRespondent only representedNeither Applicant nor Respondent RepresentedBirmingham1885819203321124435Blackburn/Lancaster264370015118578196Bournemouth and Dorset1141702538641118Brighton14141039017193283Bristol (A, NS and G)194381011614190201Carlisle75130333522075Central London3029366224375150606Cleveland and South Durham16735021079845117Coventry130210310611653171Derby101180176775196Devon169390110312779158East London2909602267379183630Essex and Suffolk2096600150221158337Guildford603100706747138Humberside12432026410353182Leicester1282701878863146Lincoln6780057734070Liverpool37110115210263158448Luton8113114710052158Manchester32613614249321154466Medway and Canterbury1935112599346220Milton Keynes97160248634096North Wales87140185546070North Yorkshire42110164562985Northampton1213700385748155Northumbria and North Durham3927705191220113270Norwich922300528938116Nottingham1292302108135102159Peterborough and Cambridge1091900576930101Portsmouth (Hampshire and IOW)1543001140200110301Reading2013402160211109263Royal Courts of Justice25212121446036164South East Wales2113112165172110227South Yorkshire236470113416897264Stoke on Trent123281210112281161Swansea1113310133876465Swindon5410006610354145Taunton92100228432360Truro4750050463071Watford1103300769066170West London2777402208296167424West Yorkshire3083905215296135276Wolverhampton213580013918667174Worcester71150168744486(blank)00000300Grand Total6996165917775062675734319154Count of the Private and Public Law Open Caseload as at the 31st March 2019 broken down by representative 1,2 Public Law3 Open CaseloadPrivate Law Open CaseloadDESIGNATED FAMILY JUDGE AREABoth Applicant and Respondent were representedApplicant only representedRespondent only representedNeither Applicant nor Respondent RepresentedBoth Applicant and Respondent were representedApplicant only representedRespondent only representedNeither Applicant nor Respondent RepresentedBirmingham1816004252368162607Blackburn/Lancaster3389100162271152477Bournemouth and Dorset831000788963165Brighton1772600134167101339Bristol (A, NS and G)2255600169236170430Carlisle892211614932114Central London30911608270406245543Cleveland and South Durham240590610712775178Coventry180400211512798239Derby246400011711081157Devon1724401170192167289East London346128054325943711068Essex and Suffolk2237924212340218664Guildford96430110610579291Humberside14446274812279287Leicester1323905127177105275Lincoln9816008412672155Liverpool41815605244379245689Luton552202609155181Manchester46618006301457261828Medway and Canterbury1705111132166119370Milton Keynes1092901537343223North Wales107292191875093North Yorkshire399028611471150Northampton1232200487152193Northumbria and North Durham44016817288377282627Norwich14151008512282203Nottingham1652800133164112300Peterborough and Cambridge12722119310375193Portsmouth (Hampshire and IOW)2074100164237168507Reading2373301192232176441Royal Courts of Justice14110014339027130South East Wales2435106245257188416South Yorkshire3374500181198160390Stoke on Trent194491013215989244Swansea141180422515498144Swindon83901568154160Taunton63600574853116Truro56900605353114Watford8514009912184303West London3466301298458265744West Yorkshire34712325309442252539Wolverhampton3375713207240143319Worcester5822021049659105Grand Total83872233149367308976558615000This is Management Information; the data is taken from a live management information system and can change over time and may differ from previously published data.Self-representation is determined by the field 'legal representation' in Familyman being left blank. Therefore, this is only a proxy measure and parties without a recorded representative are not necessarily self-representing litigants in person.2. A party is considered 'applicant-represented' if at least one applicant has a recorded representative, and likewise for respondents.3. The majority of Public law applicants are public bodies with access to their own legal resources - however, this legal representation is often not recorded. To address this, we introduced a methodology which assumes that all public body applicants have legal representation.Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system.

Department for Business and Trade

UK Defence and Security Exports: Staff

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the headcount was of UK Defence and Security Exports in each year since 2010.

Alan Mak: The headcount of civil servants employed in UK Defence and Security Exports (2018-2024)  March 2024March 2023March 2022March 2021March 2020March 2019March 2018UK Defence and Security Exports103998272   Defence and Security6566 Defence and Security Organisation  71

UK Defence and Security Exports: Finance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the annual budget was for UK Defence and Security Exports in each year since 2010.

Alan Mak: UK Defence and Security Export’s outturn is not available before 2016/17. Please see below the full year outturn for UK Defence and Security Exports for the period 2016/17 - 2022/23. 2016/2017UKDSE£9.7m2017/2018UKDSE£10.0m2018/2019UKDSE£9.9m2019/2020UKDSE£10.0m2020/2021UKDSE£9.7m2021/2022UKDSE£12.0m2022/2023UKDSE£13.7m Please note that the 2023/24 outturn will be available once DBT’s accounts are finalised.

UK Defence and Security Exports: Trade Fairs

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what funding UK Defence and Security Exports offers to companies to exhibit at international defence and security trade shows.

Alan Mak: UK Defence and Security Exports does not offer any funding to companies to exhibit at international defence and security trade shows. UKDSE offers other services to companies such as equipment demonstration through the Export Support team and opportunity to purchase space on the main UK stand at some events.

Graduates: Visas

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the graduate visa route on export earnings.

Greg Hands: The Government remains committed to sustainable growth in student numbers and the International Education Strategy ambition to host 600,000 international students a year. The Department for Business and Trade is aware of the potential impact of any changes to the Graduate Route visa via assessments made by stakeholders such as Universities UK. To that end, HMG’s International Education Champion, Sir Steve Smith, is advising the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of the Graduate Route.

UK Trade with EU

Sir Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of the UK's exit from the EU on levels of trade.

Greg Hands: Since leaving the EU, the Department for Business and Trade has secured free trade deals with 73 countries plus the EU, that accounted for £1.1 trillion of UK trade in 2022. The UK was the world’s 4th largest exporter in 2022. The UK’s total trade with the world (including goods and services) increased by £43.3bn (inflation adjusted) in 2023 compared to 2018, and our services exports to the world were at a record high in 2023, increasing by £48.9bn (inflation adjusted) compared to 2018.

UK Defence and Security Exports: Staff

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many people have been employed in the SME team at UK Defence and Security Exports in each year since 2019.

Alan Mak: 2024/25 to date2.5 2023/242.5 2022/232.5 2021/222.5 2020/213.5 2019/204

UK Defence and Security Exports: Staff

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many people have been employed in the events team in UK Defence and Security Exports in each year since 2019.

Alan Mak: 20246.5 20236.5 20226.5 20214.5 20206.5 20196

Wines: Sales

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) vineyards producing and (b) retailers selling wine in pint measures since January 2024.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Department does not hold this information. The sale of prepacked wine in 568ml ‘pint’ quantities will be permitted after the Weights and Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) (amendment) Regulations 2024 come into force on 19th September 2024.

Business: Investment

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to help increase business investment in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) the East Midlands.

Alan Mak: The Government-owned British Business Bank is supporting business investment across the UK including through its Nations and Regions Investment Funds. This includes the £400m Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, supporting growing businesses across the Midlands.Our Growth Hub network is also supporting businesses of all sizes and sectors across England. The Department for Business and Trade is working across the UK, including in Greater Lincolnshire to showcase strong, commercial investment opportunities to potential investors and support business to grow. The Government has also agreed a £720 million mayoral devolution deal for Greater Lincolnshire to support growth and business investment.

Retail Trade: Small Businesses

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had discussions with the Competition and Markets Authority on ensuring local independent retailers are not adversely affected by restrictive practices with regard to choice of stock by wholesale suppliers.

Kevin Hollinrake: Responsibility for investigating individual and market-wide competition issues falls to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s independent competition authority. The Government has ensured that the CMA has significant powers to investigate and act if it finds that businesses are behaving anti-competitively in a market.As an independent authority, the CMA has discretion to investigate competition cases which, according to its prioritisation principles, it considers most appropriate.

Post Boxes: Housing Estates

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions officials in her Department have had with the Royal Mail Group PLC on installing post boxes on new housing estates.

Kevin Hollinrake: The installation of post boxes on housing estates is an operational matter for Royal Mail as an independent business. The Government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s operational decisions. Ofcom, as the independent regulator for the postal sector, requires Royal Mail to ensure there is a post box within half a mile of the premises of at least 98% of users of postal services. Royal Mail is also required to report annually to Ofcom the number of customer complaints received about the provision and/or location of post boxes.

Trade Agreements: Dispute Resolution

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2024 to Question 16834 on Trade Agreements: Dispute Resolution, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the findings of the UN Special Rapporteur's report entitled Paying polluters: the catastrophic consequences of investor-State dispute settlement for climate action and human rights relating to the transparency of investor-State dispute settlements.

Alan Mak: I refer the Hon. Member to the response provided to Question 16553 on 11 March.

Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Royal Mail’s fulfilment of the Universal Service Obligation in Portsmouth in 2023.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of Royal Mail's failure to meet the Universal Service Obligation.

Kevin Hollinrake: As the independent regulator for the postal sector, it is for Ofcom to monitor Royal Mail’s delivery of the universal service obligation and decide how to respond should Royal Mail fail to meet its obligations. While the Government does not have a role in Ofcom’s regulatory decisions, I have met the Chief Executive of Royal Mail’s parent company to raise concerns about its performance in delivering the Government’s commitment to a universal postal service which meets consumer needs.Ofcom fined the business £5.6m for failing to meet its service delivery targets in 2022-23 and continues to monitor Royal Mail’s performance to ensure service issues are addressed as a priority.

Department for Education

Children in Care and Foster Care

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2024 to Questions 15600 and 15601 on Children in Care and Foster Care, if she will publish the number of children looked after who were cared for in a (a) relative and (b) friend foster placement by (i) age, (ii) gender, (iii) ethnicity and (iv) local authority level as of 31 March 2023.

David Johnston: The latest figures on children looked after who were cared for in a relative or friend foster placement by age, gender and ethnicity and at local authority level are shown in the attached tables. The department does not hold the data broken down separately into relative foster placements and friend foster placements. Therefore, the combined totals have been provided. Data has been provided for children looked after on 31 March 2023. 20934_Table_attachment (xlsx, 28.6KB)

Students: Finance

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will review and amend the criteria for student finance applications based on compelling personal reasons to ensure they offer appropriate flexibility where students experience unavoidable delays beyond a single academic year in completing their course of study.

Luke Hall: Generally, standard entitlement to fee support on full time courses will be available for the duration of the course, plus one extra year if needed. If a student needs to repeat a year of study due to compelling personal reasons (CPR), they may be entitled to an additional year of tuition fee funding, in addition to their standard entitlement. Only one such year can be awarded at a time. However, if the student fails the repeat year and Student Finance England (SFE) determines that the CPR criteria have been met, a further CPR year may be awarded.   Additionally, the regulations allow a current system student, who did not complete their previous, most recent course due to CPR to access fee support for one additional year. This fee support for an additional year will be provided in respect to the first year that the student takes of the current course. Provided that it was the most recent course that the student withdrew from for CPR, it does not matter how long ago they withdrew from that course. The decision to award fee support due to CPR is for SFE to make based on the evidence provided and the individual merits of each case.

Schools: Central Bedfordshire

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many meetings Ministers in her Department have had with officials at Central Bedfordshire Council on the transition from a three to two tier school system in Central Bedfordshire.

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many meetings officials in her Department have had with Central Bedfordshire Council officers on the transition from a three to two tier school system in Central Bedfordshire.

Damian Hinds: Officials from the East of England Regions Group have a weekly schedule of meetings with Central Bedfordshire officials, where a member of its Schools for the Future Programme responsible for the transition from a three to two tier school system is available to provide updates on the programme. In addition, on 23 February 2024, the department held a specific meeting where Central Bedfordshire officials provided an update on the progress of its three to two tier transition.No Ministerial meetings were held in 2023 or 2024 with Central Bedfordshire Council to discuss its plans to move from a three to two-tier educational system.

Teachers: Workplace Pensions

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to review her Department's decision to end funding for employer contributions to the teachers' pension scheme for music teachers employed by non-local authority music hubs.

Damian Hinds: As part of the competition of the Music Hubs programme, Arts Council England informed potential bidders on 15 June 2023 that department funding would be made up of the revenue and capital grants only, and that there would not be additional funding to contribute to the cost of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) for Music Hub lead organisations that are not local authorities from September 2024. The Arts Council also published indicative allocations for the 43 new Music Hub areas. In light of the increase in employer contributions to TPS from April 2024, the department will take steps to determine the level of employer liability across all the newly appointed Hub Lead Organisations from September 2024. This has not been possible until recently, as applicants were informed of the outcome of the Music Hubs Investment Programme on 8 April 2024. The department will then work with Arts Council England to set final Music Hub grant allocations for the 2024/25 academic year and, as part of this work, due consideration will be given to additional pension pressures due to the increase in employer contribution to the TPS.

Department for Education: ICT

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, updated on 29 February 2024, what steps (a) her Department and (b) the Student Loans Company have taken to mitigate the risks of red-rated legacy IT systems.

Damian Hinds: The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify ‘red-rated’ systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by next year (2025).It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within the department’s IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems are at risk, and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities.

Schools: Asbestos and Concrete

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the total cost to the public purse for removing (a) RAAC and (b) asbestos from schools in England in the (i) 2022-23, (ii) 2023-24 and (iii) 2024-25 financial years.

Damian Hinds: Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the department to support a high-quality education for all children. Responsibility for keeping buildings safe and well maintained lies with schools and their responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided (VA) bodies. The department supports responsible bodies by providing capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes and offering guidance and support.The government is funding the permanent removal of RAAC present in schools and colleges either through capital grants, or through the School Rebuilding Programme. The 2021 Spending Review announced a total of £19 billion of capital funding to support the education sector between the 2022/23 and 2024/25 financial years. Funding for RAAC during this spending period will be managed from unallocated departmental capital budgets and will not involve cutting existing commitments.The scope and cost of each RAAC project will vary depending on the extent of the issue and nature and design of the buildings. The department is working with settings to conduct the necessary technical assessments as quickly as possible to scope and progress the works needed. The total costs will not be known until all building works have been carried out.With regard to asbestos, the department expects all local authorities, governing bodies, and academy trusts to have robust plans in place to manage any asbestos in school buildings effectively, in line with their legal duties. The department follows advice from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that as long as asbestos is in good condition, well protected and unlikely to be damaged or disturbed, it is usually safer to manage in place.In many cases, asbestos will be removed as part of wider rebuilding or refurbishment work and annual condition funding can be used to remove asbestos where required. The department has allocated over £17 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in each year of the 2021 Spending Review period. Decisions on spending are primarily taken locally by responsible bodies, so the department does not hold data on the total cost of spend on asbestos removal. Where asbestos needs to be removed as part of work to mitigate RAAC, based on professional advice, the department will work closely with responsible bodies to help them do so.

Academies

Sally-Ann Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides on the powers (a) she and (b) local education authorities have to remove a school from an academy trust without the agreement of the trust.

Damian Hinds: The circumstances in which the department can remove a school from an academy trust without the agreement of the trust are set out in published guidance, which is titled ‘Schools causing concern’. In summary, the department can remove a school in circumstances where my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s, powers are triggered to terminate its funding agreement. Academies are accountable to the Secretary of State and therefore local authorities have no powers to remove an academy from a trust.

Schools: South Holland and the Deepings

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the transparency data entitled School rebuilding programme: schools in the programme, how much funding her Department has (a) allocated and (b) disbursed to each school selected in South Holland and the Deepings constituency in the latest period for which data is available.

Damian Hinds: There are two schools selected for the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) in South Holland and The Deepings constituency. These are University Academy Long Sutton and Tulip Academy. The SRP is a centrally delivered programme. Therefore, no funding is allocated or distributed directly to schools. Once contracts are awarded for building works, they are published on the Contracts Finder within 30 calendar days. The Contracts Finder can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.

Universities: Finance

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that funding allocated to universities enables institutions to mitigate losses incurred from the decline in international student recruitment.

Luke Hall: The department considers it important that it has a sustainable system to support students and support higher education (HE), that is responsive to the needs of labour markets and the wider economy and is fair to students and fair to taxpayers. In 2021/22, the total income of the HE sector in England was £40.8 billion, which was up from £28 billion in 2014/15. Of the £40.8 billion, approximately £16 billion was provided by government. This is on top of the department’s £1.3 billion capital investment for teaching and research over the current Spending Review period.Through the Strategic Priorities Grant, the department is investing hundreds of millions of pounds in additional funding over the three-year period from the 2022/23 to 2024/25 financial years to support high-quality teaching and facilities. This includes the largest increase in government funding for the HE sector to support students and teaching in over a decade. In addition, the department has provided £450 million of capital funding across the 2022/23 to 2024/25 financial years to allow HE providers to invest in a greater range of projects that will deliver better facilities for students.With our world-class universities, the government fully expects the UK to continue to be a major destination of choice for international students. The department will continue to work closely with the Home Office on the student visa system and on how it impacts international students.Longer-term funding plans for the HE sector will be set out at the next multi-year Spending Review, in line with the approach to long-term public spending commitments across government.

Universities: Overseas Students

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the number of enrolments of international students on the finances of universities.

Luke Hall: The government seeks to ensure that there is a fair and robust migration policy, whilst maintaining the UK’s place as a top destination for the best and brightest students from around the world. The department remains committed to the ambitions set out in the government’s International Education Strategy to host 600,000 international students per year and to increase the value of our education exports to £35 billion per year, both by 2030. The department expects the UK to remain a highly attractive study destination. The UK has four universities in the top ten, and 17 in the top 100, worldwide. The UK has a highly sought after higher education experience, which is respected by students across the globe. The department is hugely proud to have met its international student recruitment ambition two years running. However, the level of legal migration remains too high. As a result, on 4 December 2023, the government announced a new package of measures to reduce net migration and curb abuse and exploitation of the country’s immigration system. The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of the higher education sector in England, continues to work closely with the Home Office, Department for Business and Trade, and other governmental departments to assess the impact of these changes on higher education providers. Our universities are autonomous institutions responsible for managing their own budgets. The department also works closely with the OfS to understand the evolving landscape, including on risks relating to international students.

Nurseries: Suffolk

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase nursery staff in Suffolk, in the context of the Government's plans to expand the number of free childcare places.

David Johnston: The department has launched a range of new workforce initiatives to boost early years staff numbers. The department's £6.5 million-backed recruitment campaign ‘Do something BIG. Work with small children’ is raising the status of early years to boost recruitment of talented staff. The department has also launched Skills Bootcamps for Early Years, which enables learners across the country, including in Suffolk, to progress on an accelerated Level 3 Early Years Educator Apprenticeship. On top of this, the department has launched a pilot to test whether financial incentives help to boost recruitment, and have made it easier for managers to make the most of the skills of their existing staff through changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage, including the removal of the Level 2 maths requirement for staff to count in Level 3 child to staff ratios. A link to the statutory framework can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2. Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England, including Suffolk, about the sufficiency of childcare in their area, including their work to support Early Years (EY) workforce recruitment and retention. The department will continue to monitor the recruitment of EY staff alongside the sufficiency of childcare provision and are committed to continuing to work with the sector to understand how the department can further support EY workforce recruitment and retention.

Further Education: Work Experience

Sir Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the number and proportion of students in further education colleges who have participated in work placements relevant to their course in each of the last three years.

Luke Hall: Data on experiences of the workplace is captured by the Careers and Enterprise Company and the latest findings are based on a national dataset of 4534 state-funded secondary schools and colleges which can be found at: https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/our-evidence/evidence-and-reports/insight-briefing-gatsby-benchmark-results-2022-2023/.In the 2022/23 academic year, over 90% of further education colleges reported that most of their students had experience of a workplace by the time they finished their programme of study.In post-16 education, pupils have access to work placement opportunities through the T level programme. T levels are designed to equip students for skilled employment, whilst also providing a high-quality route to further study, including apprenticeships, higher technical education and degree level study. The programme includes a T level industry placement where students spend a minimum of 315 hours (approximately 45 days) working with external employers. Since T levels were first introduced in 2020, 98.6% of the 2020 cohort and 94.9% of the 2021 cohort have completed their industry placement. This is a total of 4250 students who have successfully completed their industry placements.

Carers: Young People

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2024 to Question 19150, which (a) loans and (b) grants young carers are entitled to.

Luke Hall: The department provides a range of financial support for students who need it to enable them to participate in further education. This includes free meals, bursaries to help with the cost of education, such as travel, books, equipment, and trips, plus support for childcare and residential costs where required. Over £160 million of bursary funding has been allocated in the 2023/24 academic year to institutions to help disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds with the costs of taking part in education, which is nearly 12% higher than published allocations for last year. The department has also made available £20 million each year specifically to support students in defined vulnerable groups, such as those in care, care leavers and those supporting themselves in receipt of certain social security funds or benefits. Institutions decide which young people receive bursaries and determine the level of financial support they receive. They develop their own eligibility criteria for access to the discretionary bursary fund, including setting a household income threshold appropriate to their area, and must publish information on this for students.

Department for Education: Labour Turnover

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff left her Department in each year since 2015.

Damian Hinds: The attached table sets out the number of civil servants who left the department (including its executive agencies, but excluding non-departmental public bodies) in each financial year ending 31 March from 2015 onwards.The figures provided are inclusive of those leaving the department to other government departments.The Cabinet Office has recently launched the new Civil Service People Plan 2024–2027, which demonstrates its commitment to developing and retaining the key skills the Civil Service needs, both now and in the future.21091_table_attachment (xlsx, 25.1KB)

Carers: Finance

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will assess the potential merits of extending the eligibility criteria for students in vulnerable groups in the 16 to 19 bursary fund to include young carers.

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support young carers in full-time education to access financial support.

Luke Hall: The department is determined that all young carers get the support they need to succeed.The department provides a range of financial support for students who need it to enable them to participate in further education. This includes free meals, bursaries to help with the cost of education, such as travel, books, equipment and trips, plus support for childcare and residential costs where required.In the 2023/24 academic year, over £160 million of bursary funding has been allocated to institutions to help disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds with the costs of taking part in education. This is nearly 12% higher than published allocations for last year. The department also made available around £20 million each year specifically to support students in defined vulnerable groups, for example those in care, care leavers and those supporting themselves in receipt of certain social security funds or benefits.Institutions decide which young people receive bursaries and determine the level of financial support they receive. Institutions develop their own eligibility criteria for access to the discretionary bursary fund, including setting a household income threshold appropriate to their area and must publish information on this for students.The intention of the vulnerable group bursaries is to help young people who are in a particularly vulnerable situation and unlikely to be receiving financial assistance from parents or carers. These bursaries provide up to £1,200 to eligible young people to help meet the costs of participating in education that they would not otherwise be able to afford. Young people who are living at home and financially supported by parents or carers are not considered eligible to receive a vulnerable group bursary. Students who do not meet the criteria for bursaries for vulnerable groups may be eligible to apply for funding from the discretionary bursary fund and should approach their education institution for further advice.

Sign Language: Education

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing free access to British sign language classes for the (a) parents and (b) caregivers of all newly-identified deaf children.

Luke Hall: The Adult Education Budget (AEB) targets a wide range of eligible individuals including parents and caregivers of all newly-identified deaf children.The Adult Education Budget (AEB) funds qualifications in, or focussing on, British Sign Language (BSL) up to and including Level 2. Approximately 60% of the AEB has been devolved to Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority, who determine which provision to fund for learners who live in their areas. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) provides the remaining funding for learners who live in non-devolved areas, which includes Preston Constituency.ESFA funded AEB qualifications include, for example, the Level 1 Award in BSL, which allows learners to communicate in BSL on a range of topics that involve simple, everyday language use, thereby giving them the basic skills and confidence in production and reception of BSL. It will depend on an individual’s circumstances as to whether they are entitled to free provision or expected to meet part of the cost through co-funding. Where community learning providers offer BSL courses, those providers are responsible for determining the course fees, including levels of fee remission.For parents learning BSL on an AEB funded course, there is also additional support available. The AEB provides funding to colleges and providers to help adult learners overcome barriers preventing them from accessing learning. Providers have discretion to help learners meet costs such as transport, accommodation, books, equipment and childcare. Learning support funding also helps colleges and training providers to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and the costs of reasonable adjustments as set out in the Equality Act 2010.

GCE A-level: Assessments

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure equal treatment of (a) internal and (b) external A Level candidates sitting exams at further education colleges (i) in general and (ii) in the marking of coursework.

Luke Hall: All exam centres, including further education colleges, are required to treat all candidates equally, including private candidates, throughout the examination process. This includes offering all aspects of non-exam assessment (NEA) for that qualification, if required. The marking of NEA would also be the same for all students.

Apprentices: Taxation

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of apprenticeship levy networks in improving small businesses’ access to apprenticeship levy funding.

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) support and (b) promote regional levy networks.

Luke Hall: The apprenticeship levy supports employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training. Transfers are a great way for large employers to use their levy funds to support apprenticeships in other businesses, including small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), flexi-job apprenticeship agencies and charities, to help meet local or sector skills needs. This could include businesses in their supply chain.The department continues to promote the benefits of levy transfers and has increased the proportion of their funds that levy-paying employers can transfer to support more apprenticeships in other businesses from 25% to 50%. This will help SMEs hire more apprentices by reducing their costs and enabling them to benefit from the support and experience that larger employers can provide.Hundreds of large levy-paying employers have already taken advantage of the opportunity to transfer their unused levy funds to other businesses. Since September 2021 over 550 employers, including ASDA, HomeServe, and BT Group, have pledged to transfer over £37 million to support apprenticeships in businesses of all sizes. It is also encouraging to see regional schemes to support local businesses through transfers, including in the West Midlands.SMEs can also access funding directly from the apprenticeships budget. The department has increased investment in the apprenticeships system in England to over £2.7 billion this financial year to support employers of all sizes, including SMEs. In addition, last year, the department removed the limit to the number of apprentices that SMEs can take on, making it easier for them to grow their businesses. This has already benefitted almost 350 SMEs. The department also now fully funds the costs of training and assessment for new apprentices aged 16 to 21 in small businesses.

Carers: Finance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what financial support is available to young adult carers between the ages of 16 and 19 who are in further education; and what steps her Department takes to ensure equitable access to that support across regions.

David Johnston: The department is determined that all young carers get the support they need to succeed in all stages of education. The department provides a range of financial support for students who need it to enable them to participate in further education. This includes free meals, bursaries to help with the cost of education, such as travel, books, equipment, and trips, plus support for childcare and residential costs where required. In the 2023/24 academic year, over £160 million of bursary funding has been allocated to institutions to help disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds with the costs of taking part in education. This is nearly 12% higher than published allocations for last year. The department has also made available around £20 million each year specifically to support students in defined vulnerable groups, for example those in care, care leavers and those supporting themselves in receipt of certain social security funds or benefits. To ensure that the distribution of this funding around the regions matches the needs of young people, the department began moving to a new approach to allocate the fund from the 2020/21 academic year. This approach uses up to date disadvantage data and focusses more on the costs of travel to ensure that institutions get more Bursary Fund if their students are from more disadvantaged areas and/or travel a long way to attend. The 2023/24 academic year allocations fully reflect this new approach after its phasing in over several years. Institutions decide which young people receive bursaries and determine the level of financial support they receive. They develop their own eligibility criteria for access to the discretionary bursary fund, including setting a household income threshold appropriate to their area and must publish information on this for students.

Special Educational Needs: Mental Health Services

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on accelerating the roll-out of mental health support teams in schools and colleges since publication of the SEND and alternative provision improvement plan.

David Johnston: Meeting children’s social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs is a crucial aspect of strong special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision. This is why the SEND and alternative provision Improvement Plan works to facilitate a more joined-up response between the department and NHS England to support children with SEMH needs. Schools and colleges can play a vital role in promoting and supporting pupil and student mental health and wellbeing, both in providing early support and intervention and through liaison with specialist services as required. Mental health support teams (MHSTs) have achieved their NHS Long Term Plan coverage ambition a year early and more teams are coming. As of March 2023, 3.4 million pupils and learners were covered by mental health support teams in schools and colleges in England, which equates to 35% of pupils and learners in England. The department estimates that 498 MHSTs will be up and running by April 2024, covering at least 44% of pupils and learners. The department further estimates there will be 600 teams covering at least 50% of all pupils across primary and secondary schools by 2025. New coverage data will be published in due course.

Special Educational Needs

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the SEND and alternative provision improvement plan published in March 2023, what steps she is taking to ensure families have confidence in the mediation process set out in that plan.

David Johnston: The reforms set out in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision Improvement Plan are geared towards making families’ overall experience of the SEND system more positive through more collaborative, consistent and transparent decision-making, thereby increasing parental confidence and leading to a less adversarial system. The department wants to rebalance the SEND system through earlier identification of need and through support provided, where possible, in mainstream settings. The department is currently testing a range of measures through the Change Programme. The department believes the Change Programme will make the biggest improvements to the quality of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans, and the experience of getting them. These measures include multi-agency panels to improve the quality of decision making and parental confidence in the EHC needs assessment process, a single national EHC plan template and guidance, advisory tailored lists and measures to resolve disagreements more quickly through the use of strengthened mediation procedures. Strengthening mediation is key part of the departments proposals. This is because where effective mediation takes place, disputes can be resolved earlier, without the need to appeal to the Tribunal. The department is working closely with the Council for disabled children to develop bespoke mediation guidance for families so that they understand the process, their rights and the benefits of mediation. Recognising the importance of families receiving high-quality mediation, the department is working with the Civil Mediation Council and the College of Mediators to review and build on their existing professional standards for SEND mediators, first published in 2018, which apply to their joint register of accredited mediators. The department has engaged parents/carers, children and young people in the drafting and testing of the guidance and standards. The department are also developing and testing a good practice delivery model for SEND mediation to help improve the quality and consistency of mediation provision, as well as gathering more data on the impact and outcomes of mediation. All of these things taken together should help improve family confidence in the overall SEND system, as well as in the mediation process.

Children in Care

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to support local authorities to prioritise the provision of high-quality reunification support for children in care to return home.

David Johnston: The department is committed to ensuring that looked after children are able to achieve permanence. Where a looked after child’s permanence plan is to return to the care of their family, there should be a robust decision making process to ensure this decision is safe and sustainable and will safeguard and promote their welfare. Local authorities should set out what support and services will be provided following reunification. In the 2023 update to the statutory guidance, titled ‘Working together to safeguard children’, the department set out that local authorities may consider whether family group decision making would support the child’s transition home from care and the role the family network could play in supporting this. The £45 million Families First for Children Pathfinder programme will test family network reforms through increased use of family group decision making and implementing Family Network Support Packages. These packages will provide practical and financial support to enable family networks to help children stay safe and thrive at home. This reform area will empower families by prioritising family-led solutions engaging wider family networks throughout decisions made about a child which may support reunification.

Ofsted

Sir Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the number of Ofsted reports that were amended under the (a) internal and (b) external review process.

Damian Hinds: This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to my hon. Friend, the Member for Shipley, directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Foster Care: Suffolk

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of foster care placements in (a) Suffolk Coastal constituency and (b) Suffolk.

David Johnston: The department is investing over £36 million this Parliament to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme, so that foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost approvals of foster carers, as well as taking steps to retain the foster carers we have. Suffolk County Council is participating in this programme and is working in a regional cluster group, ‘Foster East’, which is led by Norfolk. Greater financial support for foster carers will help improve the experiences of all children in care. For the second year running, the department is uplifting the National Minimum Allowance (NMA) above the rate of inflation. For 2024/25, the NMA will increase by 6.88%. This is on top of a 12.43% NMA increase in 2023/24. In addition, the department estimates that changes to tax and benefit allowances will give the average foster carer an additional £450 per year, as well as simplifying the process for self-assessment returns for most foster carers. The department will also build on its investment since 2014 of over £8 million to help embed the Mockingbird programme, which is an innovative model of peer support for foster parents and the children in their care where children benefit from an extended family environment.

Martial Arts: GCE A-level and GCSE

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to reinstate martial arts to the curriculum for (a) GCSE and (b) A-Level PE.

Damian Hinds: In 2018, the government conducted a public consultation to invite proposals to add activities to the published GCSE, AS and A level PE activity lists. To be included on the list, activities needed to meet the five criteria set out in the consultation and had to be sports recognised at the time by Sport England. Martial arts, such as judo, ju jitsu, karate, and taekwondo, were put forward for consideration, but failed to meet criterion five. They were found to have too many variations which would make it too difficult for teachers and moderators to reliably assess. The department currently has no plans for a review of the PE activity lists. The government wishes to provide certainty for schools by not changing the lists of eligible activities on a regular basis. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the inclusion or non-inclusion of an activity on the list does not represent a view on the legitimacy or value of the activity. Activities are included based solely upon whether they meet the criteria set out in the consultation and therefore their suitability as a means of assessing students’ skills as part of a PE qualification.

Schools: Speech and Language Therapy

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase access to speech and language therapists in schools.

David Johnston: The department’s vision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), is the same as it is for all children and young people. The department wants them to achieve well in their early years, at school and in further education, to find employment, to lead happy and fulfilled lives and to experience choice and control. The first response when any child is falling behind in school is good quality teaching. To support with this, the department is developing a suite of Practitioner standards, called ’Practice Guides‘ in the SEND and alternative provision Improvement Plan, which will set out the best available evidence to help professionals in mainstream settings, including early years staff, teachers and teaching assistants to identify and support the needs of children and young people they work with, including for those with speech and language needs. In some cases, additional, specialist support may be required to meet the needs of a child, including support provided by speech and language therapists. The department is working with the Department of Health and Social Care to take a joint approach to SEND workforce planning. The department established a steering group in 2023 to oversee this work, which is intended to be completed by 2025. The government is also backing the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, which sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take over the next 15 years to meet the needs of the changing population. This includes increasing the number of allied health professionals such as speech and language therapists. In addition, working with NHS England, the department is funding the Early Language and Support for Every Child pathfinders within the department’s Change Programme until 2025. The project will fund nine Integrated Care Boards and local areas within each of the nine Change Programme Partnerships to trial new ways of working to better identify and support children with SLCN in early years and primary school settings.

Further Education: Work Experience

Sir Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether (a) her Department and (b) Ofsted has set targets for further education colleges on the number and proportion of students who should participate in relevant work placements during their course.

Damian Hinds: The department does not set targets for further education colleges on the number and proportion of students who should participate in relevant work placements during their course. Ofsted assess whether learners are given appropriate and high quality work-related or employment experience depending on the learners’ needs. This varies greatly from one learner to another depending on their experience and from one programme to another.

Carers

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on the roll out of the Championing Kinship Care strategy; and what her planned timetable is for deploying it nationally.

David Johnston: In December 2023, the department published 'Championing Kinship Care', which is the first ever national kinship care strategy. The department is investing £20 million of funding in the 2024/25 financial year for Championing Kinship Care to help move towards a children’s social care system with kinship at its heart.Since the publication of Championing Kinship Care, the department has:Published its recruitment campaign for the first ever Kinship AmbassadorPublished updated local authority funding allocations for the 2024/25 financial year for Virtual School Heads, including the £3.8 million uplift to cover their extended duties to promote the educational outcomes of children in kinship care.Launched a package of training and support that will be delivered by Kinship. The service will provide both online and in-person training sessions for kinship carers and will cover topics such as contact with parents, how to register for a new school and support with caring for teenagers. The department will provide an update on the financial allowance pathfinder programme in the coming months.

Teaching Assistants: Training

Dean Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to provide training to teaching assistants on (a) autism and (b) other neuro-diverse conditions.

Damian Hinds: The government values and appreciates the dedication, professionalism and hard work of teaching assistants (TAs), and the department knows the valuable contribution they make to pupils’ education alongside excellent teachers, particularly when supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).Reaching over 70% of schools and further education (FE) colleges, the Universal Services programme will help the school and FE workforce to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, earlier and more effectively.The department’s Universal Services contract brings together SEND-specific continuous professional development (CPD) and support for the school and FE workforce to improve outcomes for children and young people. The contract offers autism awareness training and resources delivered by the Autism Education Trust (AET). Over 135,000 education professionals have undertaken autism awareness training as part of AET's ‘train the trainer’ model since the Universal Services programme commenced in May 2022.School and college staff have completed over 7,000 online SEND CPD units to support them in delivering an inclusive experience for every learner. The Universal Services contract will run until spring 2025, with a budget of nearly £12 million.On 22 November 2023, the department announced the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programme. This new programme, backed by £13 million of investment, will bring together integrated care boards, local authorities, and schools, working in partnership with parents and carers to support schools to better meet the needs of neurodiverse children.The programme will deploy specialists from both health and education workforces to upskill school staff including TAs in around 1,680 (10%) mainstream primary schools and build their capacity to identify and meet the needs of children with autism and other neurodiverse needs.Ultimately, schools are best placed to make decisions on the CPD that best meets the needs of their support staff, as they do for teachers' CPD.

Schools: Absenteeism

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will issue guidance to schools not to include authorised medical absences related to diagnosed medical conditions in their calculations measuring persistent absence.

Damian Hinds: Ensuring that children are in school is a top priority for the government.The department promotes a ‘support first’ approach to school attendance and recognises that some pupils face greater barriers to attendance than their peers. These pupils can include pupils who suffer from long term medical conditions. Their right to an education is the same as any other pupil and therefore the attendance ambition for these pupils should be the same as they are for any other pupil.The department’s guidance, titled ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’, makes clear that schools should not penalise pupils for their attendance record if their absences are related to physical or mental health conditions. The guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803956/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions.pdf.In addition, the department’s guidance, titled ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ emphasises that schools and local authorities should be working with the child and their family to remove any barriers to attendance by building strong and trusting relationships and working together to put the right support in place. This includes having sensitive conversations and developing good support for pupils with physical and mental health conditions and establishing strategies for removing in-school barriers to attendance. More information can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63049617e90e0729e63d3953/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf.To help implement the ‘support first’ approach, schools should record their attendance data accurately. The department has a daily data scheme to understand the drivers for absence, including those related to illness. Participation in the daily data scheme will become mandatory for all state-funded schools from September 2024.

Department of Health and Social Care

Community Health Services: Nurses

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nurses have worked in NHS community health services on average in each of the last 10 years.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Paediatrics: Waiting Lists

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children have been waiting longer than (a) 18 and (b) 24 months for a community paediatric appointment as of 17 April 2024.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Rare Diseases: Drugs

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support effective routes to market for precision medicines for (a) motor neurone disease and (b) other rare diseases in the UK.

Andrew Stephenson: Should the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) receive a marketing authorisation application (MAA) or applications, the MHRA will consider the drug with regards to quality, safety, and efficacy. The MHRA has procedures in place to consider drugs as part of an accelerated pathway. This is possible as part of national access collaboration, and international recognition. The MHRA would be able to consider motor neurone disease and other rare disease treatment products, under any of the procedures for the benefit of patients.

Bootham Park Hospital

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress NHS Property Services Ltd has made on the disposal of Bootham Park Hospital.

Andrew Stephenson: The sales process for the former Bootham Park Hospital is progressing, and is subject to final legal agreements with City of York Council. This sale would provide a range of public benefits, which include ensuring public access through the site, the provision of a formal cycle path, a publicly accessible park, and additional sports facilities which will be available for use by local schools.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust: Finance

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding her Department has provided to the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust in each year since 2015.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department allocates resource funding to NHS England who then use that to fund a series of local budgets, managed by integrated care boards (ICBs) and national budgets, managed by NHS England themselves.ICBs then use those agreed budgets to fund the purchase of healthcare services for their local population, mostly from NHS providers.The Department does not hold a breakdown of the sources of income received by individual trusts, but for the years requested the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust reported the following total income for its services in their year-end accounts:Financial YearOperating income from patient care activities (£000)Other operating income (£000)2022/23£708,886£48,7922021/22£638,695£41,4992020/21£531,696£112,1822019/20£475,065£64,1832018/19£413,754£33,7382017/18£394,512£38,6492016/17£392,427£44,8972015/16£386,840£36,5882014/15£395,007£38,243Source: The United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust published annual report and accounts, 2014/15 to 2022/23.

Dental Services: Suffolk

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps her Department has taken to help increase access to dentists in (a) Suffolk Coastal constituency and (b) Suffolk.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of provision of NHS dentists in Suffolk Coastal constituency.

Andrea Leadsom: On 7 February, we published Faster, simpler and fairer: our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry, which is backed by £200 million and will fund around 2.5 million additional appointments. The plan sets out our actions to improve dental access for patients across the country to address the challenges facing NHS dentistry, including in Suffolk. From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board is responsible for having local processes in place to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment across the ICB area. NHS Dental Statistics, published by NHS Digital, provides data on dental activity in England. The latest annual report is available online at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics

Drugs: Misuse

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the NHS of the use of illegal drugs.

Andrea Leadsom: Dame Carol Black’s review of evidence related to drugs, published in February 2020, estimated the cost to the National Health Service of illegal drug use at £431 million per annum. This includes admissions in secondary care, prison treatment and infectious disease. However, this figure does not include other NHS costs such as primary care or accident and emergency usage so will be an underestimate.

Dental Health: Wellingborough

Gen Kitchen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children aged four and under in Wellingborough constituency were admitted to hospital for a tooth extraction due to decay in each of the last 5 years.

Andrea Leadsom: Data on child hospital admissions for tooth extraction at national, regional, local authority and National Health Service levels is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hospital-tooth-extractions-in-0-to-19-year-olds-2023

Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with Royal Colleges on the (a) standards and (b) impacts of care on Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood.

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with Royal Colleges on improving training to support (a) standards and (b) help with the impacts of caring for children in the context of Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood.

Andrea Leadsom: On 26 July 2023, the Department and NHS England participated in a round table with a range of stakeholders with an interest in Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC), including the Royal College of General Practitioners, Royal College of Nursing, and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, focusing on increasing awareness and impactful training to healthcare professionals and improving support to those affected by SUDC.Healthcare regulators, such as the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council, are responsible for setting standards for undergraduate education, and medical Royal Colleges set the curriculum for postgraduate medical training.NHS England provides a range of e-learning resources to help health professionals to support bereaved parents and families.

Eyesight: Testing

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the General Ophthalmic Services sight test fee for opticians; and how many opticians stopped providing NHS services in the most recent 12 months for which data is available.

Andrea Leadsom: The level of the National Health Service sight test fee is considered annually, taking into account evidence provided by the optical fee negotiating committee, affordability for the NHS, alongside information regarding patient access to sight testing services, which continue to be widely available.Although 254 contracts for providing NHS sight testing services were terminated between February 2023 and January 2024, 179 new contracts were awarded. There are various reasons why contractors choose to stop providing NHS sight testing services, including retirement, selling the practice to a new owner, and ceasing trading as a business.

Dental Services: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the new minimum rate for units of dental activity on NHS dentists.

Andrea Leadsom: The Dentistry Recovery Plan will make dental services faster, simpler and fairer for patients and will fund around 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. We will further support dentists by raising the minimum Units of Dental Activity (UDA) rate to £28 this year, making National Health Service work more attractive and sustainable. This has meant that almost 1,000 contracts will see an uplift to their UDA rate this year, supporting them and making treatment of NHS patients more sustainable.We have also developed guidance to support local commissioning by ICBs, including how they can consider addressing UDA rates locally to support better delivery of dental care for patients. I will report to the House on impact shortly.

Trastuzumab Deruxtecan: Prices

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to support NHS England to facilitate negotiating a better price for the drug trastuzumab deruxtecan.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England is responsible for negotiating commercial agreements with individual companies, and the Department encourages companies to come forward with proposals that represent value to the taxpayer. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published final draft guidance for appeal on the use of trastuzumab deruxtecan for the treatment of HER2-low metastatic or unresectable breast cancer after chemotherapy, and was unable to recommend it as a clinically and cost effective use of National Health Service resources at the price offered by the company. Following extensive discussions through late 2023 and into 2024, NHS England is no longer engaged in any active commercial negotiations on this topic, but remains available to work with the NICE, should AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo be willing to offer trastuzumab deruxtecan at a price that represents value to the NHS.

Dental Services: Wellingborough

Gen Kitchen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of dental practises are rated as Good by the CQC in Wellingborough constituency.

Andrea Leadsom: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) team regulates all health and social care services in England. The Commission ensures the quality and safety of care in hospitals, dentists, ambulances, and care homes. The CQC does not rate dental practices, as they have been found to pose a lower risk to patient safety than other regulated sectors.

Department of Health and Social Care: Labour Turnover

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff left her Department in each year since 2015.

Andrew Stephenson: The below table shows the number of staff who left the Department, each financial year from 2015 to 2023, with the data rounded to the nearest five:YearDepartmental leavers2015190201621520178702018200201925020203002021350202219402023910

General Practitioners: Wellingborough

Gen Kitchen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support the recruitment and retention of GPs in Wellingborough constituency.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is working with NHS England to increase the general practice (GP) workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice. NHS England has made available a number of retention schemes, to boost the GP workforce.We have increased the number of GP training places, and 2022 saw the highest ever number of doctors accepting a place in GP training, a record 4,032 trainees, up from 2,671 in 2014. Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, the number of training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places available from September 2025.Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) advises that it is working with GP colleagues to develop new models of care that will support the delivery of a sustainable primary care sector, and enhance opportunities for GPs to undertake portfolio careers, developing specialist skills. The ICB has appointed a dedicated GP Retention Lead who is responsible for exploring local issues and potential solutions, and who facilitates fellowship opportunities for new GPs to be mentored by more experienced GPs.

Mental Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve early intervention for mental health conditions in working-age adults.

Maria Caulfield: The £795 million of additional funding announced in the Autumn Statement will see thousands of working-age adults with mental ill health helped back into work over the next five years, keeping them out of poverty, improving their wellbeing, and raising their living standards.This will increase the number of sessions per course of Talking Therapies treatment, to tackle the root causes of common mental health conditions like anxiety and depression and to broaden access, leading to an expected additional 384,000 people completing a course of treatment by 2028/29.The investment will also fund an additional 100,000 Individual Placement and Support places over five years, which will help people with severe mental illness gain and retain paid employment.Between 2019 and 2022, total number of NHS Talking Therapies staff across England, including clinical and non-clinical, has risen by 38%. NHS England has published a positive practice guide for NHS Talking Therapies staff working with those from black and ethnic minority groups, which is helping providers take appropriate action to ensure that communities have equality of access to NHS Talking Therapies

Cancer and Dementia: Research

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding was provided for (a) dementia and (b) cancer research in the 2022-23 financial year.

Andrew Stephenson: Government responsibility for delivering dementia research and dementia research funding is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.In 2022/23, we estimate that total Government spend on dementia research was £99.9 million, with £35.1 million of this being via the NIHR. The Department of Health and Social Care spends £1.3 billion per year on health research through the NIHR. NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £121.8 million in 2022/23, and the NIHR spends more on cancer than any other disease group.The NIHR funds research in response to proposals received from scientists rather than allocating funding to specific disease areas. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including all cancers and dementia types. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

Pilgrim Hospital: Childbirth

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many births took place in the Maternity Unit at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston in each year since 2000.

Maria Caulfield: The Department does not hold information on the number of births between 2000 and 2004 in the maternity unit at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston. The following table shows the number of births for each year since 2004 in the maternity unit at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston:YearNumber of births20041,84120051,91820061,88720071,98720082,20820092,22720102,27520112,18420122,25020132,06520142,0762015/162,0022016/171,7852017/181,9412018/191,7382019/201,7672020/211,6192021/221,8032022/231,7162023/241,657 Note: due to a change in reporting systems, the years up to 2015 were recorded as calendar years, with 2015 onward being recorded as financial years.

Pharmacy: St Albans

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of pharmacies have closed in St Albans constituency since 2019.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of pharmacy closures on the quality of primary care in St Albans constituency since 2019.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent community pharmacy closures.

Andrea Leadsom: There were 16 pharmacies on 31 December 2023 in St Albans constituency. Between 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2023, three pharmacies closed in St Albans and no new pharmacies opened. However, access to pharmaceutical services remains good, with 89 percent of the population in St Albans living within a 20 minutes’ walk from a pharmacy. This exceeds the national average of 80 percent. Residents of St Albans can also access services from distance selling pharmacies that operate nationally.It is the role of local authorities in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. ICBs have regard to those assessments when commissioning services and where a pharmacy closure impacts on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.

Cardiovascular Diseases: Plastics

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of research on the impact of (a) microplastics and (b) nanoplastics on (i) atheromas and (ii) other cardiovascular events.

Maria Caulfield: No such assessment has been made. While there are National Health Service trusts involved in research on the effects of microplastics on certain health issues, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, there is not an NHS policy position in respect to cardiovascular disease treatments at this time.

Breast Cancer: Research

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been provided for research into (a) lobular breast cancer and (b) other forms of breast cancer in each of the last five years.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department is proud to invest £1.3 billion per year into health research, with more spent on cancer than any other disease group, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Department officials meet regularly to discuss a wide-range of our investments, including into lobular and other breast cancers, to drive the maximum collective research impact on policy, practice, and individual lives. The NIHR invests in translational and implementation research to drive innovations into policy and practice.We are proud to have invested £29 million into the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and the Royal Marsden NIHR Biological Research Centre in 2022, supporting their efforts to strengthen research into cancer, including lobular breast cancer. This is complemented by wider investments into breast cancer research including, for example, a £1.3 million project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening through mammography, again including lobular breast cancer. Our support to the NIHR’s Clinical Research Network has enabled the delivery of 10 further lobular breast-cancer related studies.While the NIHR cannot respond to direct solicitations for funding, instead commissioning on the basis of research excellence, we would welcome more applications from researchers on lobular breast cancer, including from the ICR. The NIHR funds research on cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment and care, which saves lives.

Epilepsy: Greater London

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the level of stocks of epilepsy medication in south London pharmacies as of 12 April 2024.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to increase supplies of epilepsy medication in south London.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department has a role to play in ensuring that supplies of medicines are available nationally, and in sufficient quantity to meet demand. The Department does not monitor stocks of medicine at a local level, and as such no assessment has been made of the level of stocks of epilepsy medication in South London pharmacies.The Department has been working intensively with the pharmaceutical industry, National Health Service, and others to address issues with the supply of some epilepsy medications. As a result of our action, some supply issues with Tegretol prolonged-release tablets have been resolved. However, some issues remain, and we are working with suppliers to resolve these as soon as possible by expediting future deliveries, and ensuring that alternative products remain available. We have issued guidance to healthcare professionals on how to manage patients requiring affected medicines while supply is disrupted. The Department has been engaging with the Epilepsy Society to keep them updated on developments.

Mental Health Services

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to protect the titles for all (a) psychologists, (b) psychotherapists, (c) counsellors and (d) other psychological therapy providers.

Andrew Stephenson: All professional healthcare regulators have protected titles, relating to the professions they regulate. There are currently 64 protected titles across 10 professional health and care regulators, including nine protected titles relating to the practitioner psychologist profession, regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council.Titles can only be protected for statutorily regulated professions. There are no plans to statutorily regulate psychologist, psychotherapist, counsellor, or other psychological therapy provider roles.The Government keeps the professions subject to statutory regulation under review and in 2022 published the consultation, Healthcare regulation: deciding when statutory regulation is appropriate, seeking views on the criteria used to decide when regulation is necessary, and whether there are any unregulated professions that should be brought into statutory regulation. The Government will publish its response to the consultation in due course.

Breast Cancer: Ethnic Groups

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve breast cancer outcomes amongst Black women.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure the Major Conditions Strategy improves breast cancer outcomes for ethnic minority women.

Andrew Stephenson: Reducing inequalities and improving breast cancer outcomes for ethnic minority women, including black women, is a priority for the Government. To support this work, NHS England has commissioned six new cancer clinical audits, which will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatments and outcomes for patients, including metastatic breast cancer. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October 2022, and the first outcomes are expected in September 2024. NHS England is also leading a programme of work to tackle healthcare inequalities centred around five clear priorities, which are set out in operational planning guidance for the health system. The Core20PLUS5 approach for adults has been rolled out as an NHS England framework to focus action on reducing inequalities on issues within the National Health Services’ direct influence, which are major contributors to inequalities in life expectancy through major conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and others, or Long-Term Plan priorities where stark inequalities are evident, such as maternity or severe mental illness. The key actions for systems as highlighted in NHS England’s planning guidance for 2024/25 is to continue to deliver against the five strategic priorities for tackling health inequalities. Additionally, by the end of June 2024, NHS England aims to publish joined-up action plans to address health inequalities, and implement the Core20PLUS5 approach. Improving earlier diagnosis of cancers, including breast cancer, is also a priority for the Government. The NHS has an ambition to diagnose 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028, which will help tens of thousands of people live for longer. Additionally, the new cancer standards developed and supported by cancer doctors and implemented in October 2023, will ensure patients are diagnosed faster, and that treatment starts earlier. In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced that it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances in each of the next two years, to support the delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer, which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity. Whilst the Major Conditions Strategy does not seek to describe everything that is being done, or could be done, to meet the challenges of individual conditions in silo, it instead focuses on the changes likely to make the most difference across the six groups of major conditions, including cancer.

Barts Health NHS Trust

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions her Department has had with NHS England and Barts Health NHS Trust on the ongoing dispute.

Andrew Stephenson: Department officials have held discussions with NHS England regarding the strike action held at Barts Health NHS Trust. However, this is a local dispute that should be managed locally by the trust, so no direct discussions have been held with Barts Health NHS Trust on this matter.

Autism: Lewisham East

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate on the waiting times for (a) assessment for and (b) diagnosis of autism in (i) adults and (ii) children in Lewisham East constituency.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is not held centrally, but may be held by individual providers or integrated care boards (ICBs). Some relevant information is available on autism assessment waiting times for the NHS South East London ICB. In December 2023, the NHS South East London ICB’s Autism Waiting Time Statistics show that there were a total of 1,425 patients with an open suspected autism referral. 100 of these patients were aged between 0 and 17 years old, and 1,325 of these patients were aged 18 years old and over.The median waiting time of all patients in this ICB, with an open suspected autism referral, where their first care contact was in the quarter, was 545 days. For 0 to 17 year olds, the median number of days patients waited was 149 days, compared to 606 days for over 18 year olds.Data on children and young people in this dataset is expected to be an underestimate, and caution should be used when interpreting these statistics, since they are experimental rather than official statistics. The majority of children assessed for autism in the United Kingdom are seen in child development services, which are out of the scope of this dataset. This means the published figures will underestimate the volume of referrals or diagnoses, and the associated impact on health services. NHS England continues to conduct exploratory analysis into the Community Services Dataset, with a view to including autism waiting times data from that dataset.

Autism: Health Services

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to work with local authorities to increase access to support services for people with autism.

Maria Caulfield: Our national autism strategy, published in July 2021, acknowledges the importance of autistic people being able to access community support, including social care, and that this support should be available at the right time, and tailored to autistic people’s needs. We are currently updating the Autism Act Statutory Guidance to support the National Health Service and local authorities in delivering improved outcomes for autistic people. This will include setting out what local authorities must and should be doing to support autistic adults.Under the Care Act 2014, it is the responsibility of local authorities to assess individuals’ care and support needs, including those of autistic adults, and, where eligible, to meet those needs. A new duty for the Care Quality Commission (CQC), to assess local authorities’ delivery of their Care Act 2014 duties, went live on 1 April 2023, and the formal assessment period has started. The CQC will examine how well local authorities deliver their Care Act duties, including those that apply to autistic people with care and support needs. This will increase transparency and accountability and, most importantly, drive improved outcomes for people who draw on care and support.Each integrated care board (ICB) must have an Executive Lead for learning disability and autism, to support them in delivering care and support for autistic people in their area. NHS England has published statutory guidance on these Executive Lead roles. Key areas of the Executive Lead role include, but are not limited to: supporting the board in developing a strategic plan for people with a learning disability and autistic people, with local authorities and wider partners; using joint commissioning principles to work together to facilitate appropriate community support, care, and housing; and enabling people to live well at home. It also includes working with local authorities, primary care networks, place-based partnerships, provider collaboratives, health care providers, and wider partners to address inequalities in health outcomes for people with a learning disability and autistic people.

Tuberculosis

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the recent increase in cases of tuberculosis.

Maria Caulfield: To support tuberculosis (TB) control in England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS England launched a collaborative TB Action Plan in July 2021. This has specific actions and measurable objectives to improve the prevention, detection, and control of TB in England. This action plan is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tuberculosis-tb-action-plan-for-englandThe UKHSA and NHS England continue their work with partners to raise awareness of TB among vulnerable communities and healthcare professionals, to support early detection and diagnosis of TB. The measures identified in the action plan are currently being reviewed in the light of the current increase in cases, to ensure resources are focused on the actions with the highest benefit.

Air Pollution: Warwick and Leamington

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the impact of air quality on the health of residents in Warwick and Leamington constituency.

Maria Caulfield: The fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution indicator, measured as PM2.5, represents the percentage of annual deaths from all causes in those aged 30 years old and older, attributed to PM2.5. In 2022, the latest year from which published data is available, the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution was 5.5% for Warwickshire, and 5.5% for Warwick.The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) produces the estimates of the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution in English local authorities and regions, as an indicator within the Public Health Outcomes Framework for England, published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. This framework is available at the following link:https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes-framework/data#page/0/gid/1000043/pat/15/par/E92000001/ati/6/are/E12000007/cid/4/page-options/ovw-do-0The UKHSA provides the scientific secretariat to the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants, an expert committee of the Department, which advises the Government on matters concerning the health effects of air pollutants. Further information on this committee is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/committee-on-the-medical-effects-of-air-pollutants-comeap

Maternity Services: Flexible Working

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential benefits of introducing more flexible working arrangements for maternity staff in NHS services.

Maria Caulfield: Flexible working arrangements, or We work flexibly, is one of the elements contained in the NHS People Promise, with a commitment to deliver for staff, including midwives, by 2024/25. NHS England has created and shared flexible working arrangement resources, and delivered bespoke webinars and workshops on the issue. They have also brought together midwifery leaders from across the system to share good practice, foster collaboration, and support the implementation of flexible working across maternity services.In September 2021, contractual changes took effect for employees covered by the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, which includes the right to request flexible working from day one, without the need to provide a justification.Flexible working is one of the key pillars of improving staff experience and retention, as set out in the Long Term Workforce Plan. It will contribute to the aim of retaining up to 130,000 more staff over the course of the plan. However, no assessment of the benefits of introducing more flexible working arrangements specifically for maternity staff has been made.

Department of Health and Social Care: Marketing

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of her Department’s (a) advertising and (b) marketing expenditure was on (i) local newspapers in print and online, (ii) national newspapers in print and online, (iii) social media, (iv) search engines, (v) broadcast and on-demand television and (vi) other channels in the most recent year for which data is available.

Andrew Stephenson: The below table shows the Department’s total media expenditure, across advertising and marketing and as a proportion by media type, for the financial year 2023/24:Type of mediaPercentage of departmental media expenditureLocal newspapers in print and online10.3%National newspapers in print and online10.4%Social media7.5%Search engines4.7%Broadcast and on-demand television6.7%Other channels, including radio, audio, out-of-home advertising, display, programmatic, and fees60.4%

Paediatrics: Staff

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS staff have worked in community paediatric services on average in each of the last 10 years.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department does not hold the information requested.

Breast Cancer: Research

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on funding for (a) the Lobular Moon Shot Project and (b) other research into lobular breast cancer.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to provide support to the Lobular Breast Cancer Project.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department invests £1.3 billion per year into health research, with more spent on cancer than any other disease group, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). We work closely with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), who are responsible for channelling a large proportion of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s investments in this area. Our officials meet regularly to discuss a wide range of our investments, including into lobular and other breast cancers, to drive the maximum collective research impact on policy, practice, and individual lives. While research to understand the mechanisms of cancer, including lobular breast cancer, is largely funded through UKRI and the MRC, the NIHR invests in translational and implementation research to drive innovations into policy and practice. Launched in 2023, the Lobular Moonshot Project is a high-level funding proposal and campaign to raise money to support the Institute for Cancer Research (ICR), with whom we meet regularly, to invest in fellowships and projects in lobular breast cancer. We are proud to have invested £29 million in the ICR and Royal Marsden NIHR Biological Research Centre in 2022, supporting their efforts to strengthen research into cancer, again including lobular breast cancer. This is complemented by wider investments into breast cancer research, for example, a £1.3 million project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening through mammography, such as lobular breast cancer. Our support to the NIHR Clinical Research Network has enabled the delivery of 10 further lobular breast-cancer related studies. Additionally, the NIHR supports breast cancer research funded by research partners in the charity and public sectors through the NIHR’s Clinical Research Network (CRN). Over the last five years, the CRN has supported delivery of 10 lobular breast cancer-related studies conducted by other partners. While the NIHR cannot respond to direct solicitations for funding, instead commissioning on the basis of research excellence, we would welcome more applications from researchers on lobular breast cancer, including from the ICR. The NIHR funds research on cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, and care, which saves lives.

Pancreatic Cancer: Lewisham West and Penge

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the average time taken to diagnose pancreatic cancer in Lewisham West and Penge constituency.

Andrew Stephenson: Data on the average time taken to diagnose pancreatic cancer is not published by NHS England who are responsible for publishing cancer waiting times data. NHS England is working to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS), which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a general practitioner or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out. Latest published data from February 2024 shows FDS performance was 78.1% nationally. Of those patients referred to Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in February 2024, 81.2% received a diagnosis or ruling out of cancer within four weeks which was above the 75% standard. For the same period 76.2% of patients referred to providers part of NHS South East London Integrated Care Board received a diagnosis or ruling out of cancer within 28 days.Data on FDS does not individualise pancreatic cancer specifically, however it does include suspected upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancer, which encompasses pancreatic cancer, at provider level. Of those patients referred to Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust for suspected GI cancer in February 2024, 82.3% received a diagnosis or ruling out of cancer within four weeks.The Department is taking steps to reduce cancer treatment waiting times across England, including the time between an urgent general practitioner referral and the commencement of treatment. The Government is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care and plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment activity.

Bowel Cancer: Screening

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help improve genomics testing for bowel cancer patients.

Andrew Stephenson: A National Health Service testing programme is helping to diagnose thousands of people with a genetic condition, Lynch Syndrome, that increases the chance of developing certain cancers including bowel cancer. The national programme ensures all people diagnosed with bowel cancer are offered genomic testing, with a diagnosis for Lynch Syndrome not only helping to guide more personalised cancer treatment but enabling their families and relatives to be offered testing too. Relatives who receive a diagnosis of Lynch Syndrome can be referred to genetic services to discuss regular testing options to help catch any cancers as early as possible, as well as to consider preventive options such as taking aspirin or undergoing risk-reducing surgery.Genomic testing in the NHS in England is provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service (GMS) and delivered by a national genomic testing network of seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs (GLHs). The NHS GLHs deliver testing as directed by the National Genomic Test Directory (NGTD) which outlines the full range of genomic testing offered by the NHS in England including tests for 3,200 rare diseases and over 200 cancer clinical indications, including both whole genome sequencing (WGS) and non-WGS testing. The NGTD sets out the eligibility criteria for patients to access testing as well as the genomic targets to be tested and the method that should be used, including testing for bowel cancer patients.The NHS GMS cancer genomic testing strategy has facilitated a move to a consolidated laboratory network through the seven NHS GLHs delivering more extensive panel testing using cutting edge high throughput Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology. For patients, including those with bowel cancer, this technology enables testing for a larger number of genetic variations to give a more precise diagnosis, identify biomarkers to target treatment and opportunities to access innovative medicines, and can support enrolment into molecularly stratified clinical trials.Testing is available for all eligible patients across the whole of England. Individuals should discuss with their healthcare professional (for example, their general practitioner or other healthcare professional if they are already being seen in a relevant service) whether genomic testing is appropriate for them. Their healthcare professional will then make a decision whether to refer the individual either directly or via an NHS clinical genomics service or other relevant clinical speciality for genomic testing following clinical review of their and their family’s medical history if known, and the relevant genomic testing eligibility criteria.The 17 NHS Clinical Genomic Services (NHS CGSs), commissioned by NHS England, deliver a comprehensive clinical genomic and counselling service that directs the diagnosis, risk assessment and lifelong clinical management of patients of all ages and their families who have, or are at risk of having, a rare genetic or genomic condition. As part of the NHS CGS, the patient and their family will access diagnosis, and management relevant to their particular condition, but also receive support and guidance so that they are able to understand their condition, its implications, and their options in relation to reproduction, screening, prevention and clinical management.

Medical Equipment

Dame Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to develop a Priority Review programme for medical devices.

Dame Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 23 June 2023 to Question 189729 on Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, whether she plans to initiate a priority review for medical devices.

Dame Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and (b) NICE will prioritise the regulatory timelines for medical devices that (i) respond to conditions outlined in the Major Conditions Strategy and (ii) where there is unmet need.

Andrew Stephenson: The Priority Review programme is not currently planned, but the Government is taking other significant steps for medical device regulatory reform, as part of a broader Medical Technology Strategy. Further information on the Medical Technology Strategy is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/medical-technology-strategy/medical-technology-strategy The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for regulating medical devices, and designates United Kingdom Approved Bodies to conduct conformity assessments against the relevant regulatory requirements. The MHRA works closely with Approved Bodies to ensure their timely assessment. Following a consultation on the future regulation of medical devices in 2021, the MHRA is leading a programme of work to introduce updated regulations for medical devices that prioritise patient safety, improve patient access to innovative medical devices, and ensure the UK remains an attractive market for medical technology innovators. In January of this year, the MHRA published a MedTech Regulatory roadmap that sets out the main activities in implementing the future regulations throughout 2024 and 2025. An international recognition framework for medical devices will form part of the future regulatory framework, which will provide an alternative route to the UK’s market, by leveraging approvals from comparable international regulators. The MHRA aims to publish an outline of the International Recognition Framework for medical devices later this spring, aligned to the Life Sciences Council, subject to necessary approvals.In addition, the MHRA is leading the reform of the medical devices regulatory landscape and includes a new pathway to accelerate access to safe, innovative medical devices to help meet the unmet needs of patients. The Innovative Devices Access Pathway aims to bring new medical technologies and solutions to the National Health Service, to support the medical needs that are not currently being met. There are eight innovative medical technologies included in the pilot phase.We are working alongside others to further the Life Sciences Vision, particularly improving regulation and regulatory processes around medical devices, and supporting broader ambitions in the vision aligned to the conditions set out in the Major Conditions Strategy. As we work to update the medical devices regulatory landscape, the MHRA is taking the Major Conditions Strategy into consideration, including the six groups of major health conditions.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is not a regulator but makes recommendations for the NHS on whether selected medical devices should be routinely adopted by the NHS, based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. Medical devices are prioritised for the NICE’s evaluation, in line with NICE’s published topic selection manual.

Food: Advertising

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by Bite Back entitled Fuel us, don't fool us, published in February 2024, what steps she is taking to implement the 9 pm watershed restriction of unhealthy food and drink adverts online and on television.

Andrea Leadsom: On 1 October 2025, the Government will introduce a United Kingdom-wide 9pm TV watershed for less healthy products and a restriction of paid-for advertising of these products online. The Government and regulators are now carrying out crucial processes to prepare for implementing and enforcing the regulations by 1 October 2025. The Government welcomes Bite Back’s report, Fuel Us Don’t Fool Us and will consider its wider recommendations.

Alzheimer's Disease: Medical Treatments

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she has taken to support research and development of the ACI-24 Alzheimer’s disease treatment.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The Government is strongly committed to supporting research into dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease treatment, and has committed to doubling funding for dementia research to £160 million per year, by the end of 2024/25. In addition, the NIHR’s infrastructure provides funding for clinical expertise, specialist facilities, the workforce, and support services, which underpin research across a range of clinical areas, including Alzheimer’s disease treatments. Specifically, the NIHR’s Oxford Health Clinical Research Facility (CRF) has enabled the delivery of the ABATE part 1 trial, which seeks to study the effects of the ACI-24 vaccine in those diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. The NIHR’s CRFs are purpose-built facilities for early-phase, experimental medicine, and supporting life science companies throughout the research process from study, design, data collection, and trial management.

Semaglutide: Health Hazards

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase the public's awareness of the side effects that can arise from taking weight loss drugs such as Ozempic.

Andrew Stephenson: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) plays a pivotal role in ensuring the safety, efficacy, and quality of medicines and healthcare products available to patients in the United Kingdom. Patient safety remains the MHRA’s highest priority, and they take every opportunity to encourage reporting of any safety concerns to the Yellow Card scheme, which helps to improve the safe use of medicines and medical devices for everyone.New medicines including, Mounjaro and Wegovy, are intensively monitored to ensure that any new safety concerns are identified promptly. The Commission on Human Medicines and the MHRA encourages the reporting of all suspected reactions to newer drugs and vaccines, which are denoted by an inverted Black Triangle symbol. This symbol appears next to the name of a relevant product in drug safety updates, the British National Formulary and the Nurse Prescribers’ Formulary, the monthly index of medical specialities, the electronic medicines compendium, and advertising material. Patient information leaflets accompanying licensed medicines in the UK must include a description of the adverse reactions which may occur in normal use of the medicinal product, as well as information on how to report them. All adverse reactions must be reflected in the leaflet, in language that the patient will understand.The MHRA has received a small number of reports of falsified and unlicenced medicines being sold illegally online as a treatment for weight loss. The agency has issued public health messaging warning of the dangers of buying such medicines from illegal trading sources online.

Ambulance Services: Bullying and Discrimination

Sir Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle (a) sexism, (b) racism and (c) bullying behaviour within the ambulance service; and if she will establish an independent body to review complaints made by ambulance workers.

Andrew Stephenson: Everyone working in the National Health Service must feel safe from any form of bullying, harassment, discrimination, or abuse, and feel confident that they can raise concerns, which will be taken seriously and acted on. The Department welcomes the publication of the NHS England commissioned independent review into ambulance sector culture. NHS England has established a Delivery Board to deliver the review’s important recommendations. This includes actions led by the Office of the Chief Allied Health Professions at NHS England, and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, on stopping misogyny and improving sexual safety in the ambulance service. This programme of work will build on the work already underway through the NHS People Plan, and the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Improvement Plan

Drugs: Wholesale Trade

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the prices available to (a) large companies and (b) independent pharmacies for the purchase of pharmaceuticals from wholesalers.

Andrew Stephenson: Through the medicine margin survey, the Department assesses whether the reimbursement arrangements pay pharmacy contractors as agreed, as part of the community pharmacy contractual framework. The medicine margin survey considers what a sample of independent pharmacies paid, by looking at their invoices compared to the amount reimbursed by the National Health Service. As large companies are considered to have greater buying power, they are not sampled in the medicine margin survey.Furthermore, where pharmacies cannot purchase products at or below the Drug Tariff NHS reimbursement price, Community Pharmacy England can request that the Department reassesses the reimbursement price. If a new reimbursement price is issued, it is known as a concessionary price.

Pharmacy: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a rebate scheme for the cost of pharmaceuticals for community pharmacies.

Andrew Stephenson: Community pharmacies are responsible for purchasing the medicines and other products that they supply as part of National Health Service pharmaceutical services. The purchase price, including rebates schemes available to them, is a commercial decision for the pharmaceutical wholesalers and manufacturers who sell to them.

Cancer: Health Services

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding has her Department allocated to provide recovery spaces for families of cancer treatment patients.

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions her Department has had with cancer treatment support groups on the use of direct funds to support patients and their families.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care, and plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer treatment, which encompasses recovery spaces. Additionally, and as outlined in the 2024/25 NHS England Planning Guidance, NHS England are providing over £266 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances, to support delivery of the operational priorities for cancer.The Department and NHS England meet regularly to discuss a wide range of issues regarding cancer. The Department's ministers and officials also frequently meet with key stakeholders within the cancer community, including discussions on support for patients and their families. As stated in the NHS Long Term Plan for Cancer, where appropriate, every person diagnosed with cancer will have access to personalised care, including needs assessment, a care plan and health and wellbeing information, and support. NHS England provides personalised cancer care and support plans, to support both patients and their families at all stages of their cancer journey. This is being delivered in line with the NHS Comprehensive Model for Personalised Care, empowering people to manage their care and the impact of their cancer, and maximise the potential of digital and community-based support. NHS England estimates that approximately 80% of cancer multidisciplinary teams are now offering Personalised Care and Support Planning, ensuring physical, practical, emotional, and social needs are identified and addressed at all stages of the cancer pathway. Additionally, Personalised Stratified Follow Up pathways, which adapt care to the needs of individual patients after cancer treatment, are being rolled out by cancer multi-disciplinary teams, and are required for at least eight cancer types by 2023/24.General practice surgeries also conduct cancer care reviews at regular intervals after cancer diagnosis, to offer support with any needs patients may have. This includes providing access to other specialist-led services who work alongside patients’ medical teams, to support patients and their families, such as counsellors, rehabilitation specialists, or social prescribers, who can connect you to community groups or services for more support. This is part of NHS England’s drive to universal personalised care that will see at least 2.5 million people benefiting from personalised care by 2023/24.NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring the healthcare needs of local communities in England are met, including for cancer patients. NHS England provide access to a personal health budget, which is an amount of NHS money that is allocated to support the health and wellbeing needs of a patient if eligible. More information is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/help-with-health-costs/what-is-a-personal-health-budget/

Incontinence: Products

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking with NHS England to (a) promote the adoption of the principles of value-based procurement in the purchase and dispensing of absorbent continence products and (b) help ensure that those principles continue to be adopted in the context of short-term savings being pursued by NHS organisations.

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to ensure that NHS organisations take into account (a) patient experience and outcomes, (b) whole system costs, (c) laundry costs and (d) the environmental impact when purchasing absorbent continence products.

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make a comparative assessment of the cost to the NHS of different kinds of absorbent continence products based on the (a) item price and (b) patient experience and outcome including (i) whole system cost, (ii) laundry cost and (iii) environmental impact.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government is working with NHS England and partner organisations across the health system to develop a standardised methodology, to assess the full value of medical technologies. This initiative underlines our commitment in the Medtech Strategy, published in February 2023, ensuring the right product, in the right place, at the right price. The methodology will seek to look beyond upfront cost to consider patient outcomes, whole system costs, supply resilience, and the environmental impact when procurement decisions are being made. The methodology will provide a consistent approach to assessing value, and will be implemented at both the national and local level. This approach aims to ensure that procurement decisions support both short-term efficiencies and long-term benefits, drawing out the value to patients and the healthcare system. The Government appreciates contributions from the industry and procurement communities, and will invite stakeholders to provide feedback on the initial proposal in due course. In terms of implementation, we will look to align and integrate this initiative with NHS England’s Central Commercial Function's ongoing work under their strategic framework, which aims to create commercial playbooks for standardising practices and processes across the National Health Service. Regarding the specific point raised around absorbent continence products, the Disposable Continence tender is due to be issued to the market later this year. To ensure that the NHS’s requirements are considered during the procurement process, NHS Supply Chain is undertaking significant engagement across the health and social care system. This includes customers in the acute and wider community setting, suppliers, trade associations, professional bodies, and end user reference groups, to understand their requirements from a commercial, value, sustainability, and supply resilience perspective. NHS Supply Chain is currently working with suppliers of disposable continence products to understand the value-based procurement and sustainability offerings on the purchase of continence products. NHS Supply Chain has identified a trust who are committed in supporting us in understanding this value in the form of a pilot study, and potential case study. More information can be provided once these studies have been finalised and confirmed.

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust: Maternity Services

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Any Hours and Any Speciality schemes used by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust on (a) maternity staff retention rates and (b) career progression among midwives.

Andrew Stephenson: Any Hours is a programme that allows for more flexible working hours and patterns. Wherever there are shifts that are unfilled, Any Hours allows midwives to choose when, where, and the number of hours they want to work. Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust data shows that since the Any Hours Scheme was enacted, it has released, on average, 300 hours a month, equalling two whole time equivalent midwives’ released every month. The Any Hours programme is expected to be featured as a case study by NHS England.Any Specialty is a programme to encourage all Band 6 midwives to spend 15 hours a month, or two days, in a different speciality of their choice. This allows colleagues to improve the competencies and skills needed to help their career progression, or even to directly apply to a specialist midwife role at the trust. To date, specialties have recruited nine midwives following Any Specialty contact at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.

Life Sciences: Artificial Intelligence

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on the £100 million AI Life Sciences Accelerator Mission.

Andrew Stephenson: The Prime Minister announced a new artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare fund, backed by £100 million, at the AI Safety Summit. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is responsible for this fund, and the Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with them to identify areas where rapid deployment of AI could create transformational breakthroughs in healthcare. We are particularly focused on innovations in Life Sciences, which could accelerate our fight against devastating conditions like cancer and chronic mental ill-health, aiming to diagnose these conditions earlier and improve treatments. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will provide an update on our progress later in Spring.

Patients: Safety

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of NHS speak up guardians in (a) primary and (b) secondary care settings.

Andrew Stephenson: Freedom to Speak Up Guardians are a valued channel through which concerns can be raised, and have handled over 100,000 cases since the National Guardian’s Office first started collecting data in 2017. This represents over 100,000 opportunities for learning and improvement. In 2022/23 alone over 25,000 cases were raised with Freedom to Speak Up Guardians and over four-fifths, or 82.2% of those who gave feedback to their Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, said they would speak up again.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to breast screening for people with physical disabilities that prevent them from holding the required position for sufficient time to complete the screening.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England is committed to improving the accessibility of the screening programmes it commissions under the Public Health Services (S7a) agreement, particularly for under-served groups in society. Contractually, providers of National Health Service screening services are required to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that their services are accessible for people with disabilities. For example, the NHS breast screening service offers longer appointments at accessible sites to support women with physical disabilities.Services make reasonable adjustments within the constraints of mammography equipment, to ensure that people with disabilities are offered the opportunity to have screening. However, there may be situations where this is not possible. Providers will deal with these on a case by case basis, and offer an alternative approach as necessary. For example, for women who are unable to have a mammogram, they may be offered a referral to a symptomatic breast clinic for a physical check.

Hospices: Children

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the shortage of children’s nurses in hospices across the UK.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England is seeking to address shortages in the workforce, and particularly in community care, through the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP). The LTWP, published in 2023, sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to grow the workforce, and deliver a workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. It will put the workforce on a sustainable footing for the long term. The LTWP aims to grow the number and proportion of NHS staff working in mental health, and primary and community care, and sets out an ambition to grow these roles by 73%, by 2036/37.The Department has delivered on the Government’s commitment of 50,000 additional nurses, with over 363,000 nurses working across the NHS, which is over 62,000, or 20.7% more than September 2019. More widely, data for September 2023 from the Nursing and Midwifery Council shows there are over 58,300 registered children’s nurses across the United Kingdom. This is over 6,500, or 12.7%, more than in 2019.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that patients at high risk of developing breast cancer are recalled for MRI screening.

Andrew Stephenson: Women at very high risk (VHR) of breast cancer are eligible to be screened from the age of 25 years old upwards, and should be invited every year. The screening includes mammography or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), depending on age and risk criteria.In March, NHS England wrote to a small number of VHR women who had not been referred for annual MRI surveillance, and the National Health Service has been working hard to ensure these women are checked as a matter of urgency, as described in their individual letters. To support screening of VHR women, a new central database is planned to ensure all referrals reach NHS breast screening services.

Dementia: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Northern Ireland will receive funding through the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia mission; and what her planned timetable for delivery of the mission is.

Andrew Stephenson: Spending and delivery plans for the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission are currently in development. The Dementia Mission Co-Chairs Hilary Evans and Professor Nadeem Sarwar have, and continue to, engage extensively across the sector to understand and develop the missions’ key aims, ensuring it addresses the challenges the sector faces and that patient voices are heard. This has informed the missions focus on three key pillars: biomarkers and experimental medicine; clinical trials infrastructure and innovation; and end-to-end implementation.In March 2024, the Government hosted a roundtable and reception where charities, academics, investors, business leaders, and people with lived experience came together to further accelerate efforts to tackle this devastating illness, and to thank all those involved in supporting dementia research, including charities across the United Kingdom. This event made a series announcements, including: awarding a share of the £6 million of funding to 10 projects through Innovate UK’s Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) dementia biomarker tools competition; the appointment of Scott Mitchell as the People’s Champion for the Dementia Mission; the appointment of Dr Ruth McKernan CBE as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Neurodegeneration Initiative, which will be a public-private partnership delivering the mission's objectives around biomarkers, boosting the number and speed of clinical trials in dementia and neurodegeneration, and working with regulatory bodies around the implementation of new treatments; and the appointment of the Medicines Discovery Catapult as the delivery partner for the establishment of the Neurodegeneration Initiative. The Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission continues to develop its deliverables, and will announce further plans for their delivery in due course.

Contraception: Vulnerable Adults and Young People

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure that (a) young and (b) vulnerable people have access to free contraception.

Andrea Leadsom: Local authorities across England are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, openly accessible sexual and reproductive health services, which includes the provision of free contraception to meet local demand. Local authorities decide on commissioning arrangements based on an assessment of local need, including the needs of young and vulnerable people. Contraception is also widely available free of charge through general practices (GPs).The Government is committed to improving access to contraception, and reducing reproductive health inequalities. The Women’s Health Strategy sets out our 10-year ambition and the actions we are taking to improve disparities in access to services, experiences of services, and outcomes for all women and girls.As part of our work to deliver the Women’s Health Strategy we have launched a dedicated women’s health area on the National Health Service website as a first port of call for women’s health information, including contraception. We have also worked closely with NHS Digital to create a new YouTube series on contraception, which has been designed to help answer common questions often found in search engines, as well as more detailed information on the range of contraceptive methods available.In 2023 we also introduced the NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service. This service offers greater choice in how people can access contraception services. It will also create additional capacity in GPs and sexual health clinics, to support meeting the demand for more complex assessments.We are working with the Women’s Health Ambassador and others to provide health information to diverse groups of women, across their life course. We know that young people who receive effective relationships and sex education are more likely to use contraception and condoms, and less likely to have an unplanned pregnancy as a teenager, and in later life.The 2020 roll-out of statutory relationships and sex education in all schools means that more young people receive support to prevent early unplanned pregnancy through learning about the full range of contraceptive choices and sexual health services available. The statutory guidance is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education As set out in the Women's Health Strategy, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education are working to understand women’s health topics that teachers feel less confident in teaching, and we will work to improve provision of high-quality teaching resources.

Naloxone

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the contract awarded by her Department to Ethypharm UK Ltd on 27 January 2022 for the storage and management of the Department's Naloxone buffer stock, how many packs of Naloxone were distributed from the buffer stock for use by patients in the UK in the (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23, and (c) 2023-24 financial year.

Andrea Leadsom: No packs of naloxone were distributed from the buffer stock for use by patients, in the financial years 2021/22, 2022/23, or 2023/24. The buffer stock is maintained in case of an unprecedented demand for naloxone arising, that would exceed the capacity of business-as-usual stock, for instance due to an incident of unusually harmful opioids. Such an incident has not arisen to date. The Government remains committed to maintaining this vital precautionary measure, and would authorise the release of buffer stock supplies when needed.

Hospices: Children

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to issue guidance to children’s hospices on changes in the distribution of the Children’s Hospice Grant for the 2024-25 financial year.

Helen Whately: NHS England has confirmed it will renew the Children and Young People hospice funding for 2024/25, again allocating £25 million of funding for children’s hospices, using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as previously used. Funding will be distributed via integrated care boards (ICBs), in line with National Health Service devolution.NHS England wrote to all ICBs and children’s hospices on 9 April 2024 to confirm the new arrangements, providing the sector with the clarity on 2024/25 allocations they have been seeking, for this very important funding stream.

Surgery: Suffolk

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for elective surgery for people in Suffolk Coastal constituency.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to increase National Health Service elective activity and productivity above pre-pandemic levels, while expanding capacity through creating a new network of community diagnostic centres and maximising all available independent sector capacity.NHS England provides robust support and challenge to the trusts which have the highest number of patients waiting the longest for elective treatment, with each receiving bespoke regional or national intervention where it is required.

Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to (a) support research for and (b) raise awareness of Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department funds research into rare diseases such as ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Over the last five years, NIHR infrastructure has supported 13 research awards on ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency. Raising awareness of rare diseases such as ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency among healthcare professionals is a priority of the 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework, and the 2024 England Rare Diseases Action Plan.

Semaglutide: Procurement

Ashley Dalton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking with pharmaceutical companies to increase the supply of semaglutide.

Ashley Dalton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the guidance submitted to medical professions on the prescription of semaglutide on the availability of that drug for people suffering from type 2 diabetes.

Ashley Dalton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is working with her international counterparts to tackle supply issues relating to (a) semaglutide and (b) other glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists licensed for treating patients with type 2 diabetes.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department has worked intensively with industry to seek commitments from them to address issues with the supply of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), including semaglutide, to expedite deliveries and boost supplies. As a result, the overall supply position in the United Kingdom has improved. Guidance for healthcare professionals now allows for the initiation of new patients on Rybelsus tablets, an oral semaglutide, and provides advice on what to prescribe patients who are unable to obtain their existing GLP-1 RA treatment whilst there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some products, including semaglutide. These disruptions are affecting many countries around the world, and aren’t specific to the UK.We continue to work with international partners, given the global nature of medical supply chains, collaborating to share best practice and manage and respond to common threats to supply, including on semaglutide and other GLP-1 RAs licensed for treating patients with type 2 diabetes.

Care Homes: Wellingborough

Gen Kitchen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of care homes are rated as Good by the CQC in Wellingborough constituency.

Helen Whately: As of 9 April 2024, the percentage of care homes in the Wellingborough Constituency with a rating of Good was 59%.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will review the (a) surplus sharing and (b) other arrangements of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme.

Andrew Bowie: The Government has been consistent in its willingness to consider any proposals that the Trustees bring forward. Ministers have previously been willing to discuss proposals including those which would alter the surplus sharing arrangements.

Renewable Energy

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding (a) community and (b) co-operative ownership in the renewable energy sector.

Justin Tomlinson: Government recognises the role community groups play in our efforts to tackle climate change and offers support through the £10m Community Energy Fund, which enables both rural and urban communities across England to access grant funding to develop local renewable energy projects for investment. In addition, a Call for Evidence on the barriers to community energy projects was published on 8 April 2024.

Renewable Energy

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when her Department plans to publish the next National Renewable Energy Action Plan.

Justin Tomlinson: The National Renewable Energy Action Plan was a requirement under the Renewable Energy Directive which no longer applies to the UK. The Government publishes its proposals and policies to enable carbon budgets to be met, including the role of renewable energy in reducing emissions, in the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan. The last plan was published in March 2023. The next will be published as soon as reasonably practicable after setting the level of Carbon Budget 7. The statutory deadline for setting the level of Carbon Budget 7 is the end of June 2026.

Offshore Industry: North Atlantic Ocean

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of seismic airgun surveys on cetacean species in the East Faroe Shetland Channel Marine Protected Area.

Justin Tomlinson: The UK has a comprehensive legal framework of environmental protection measures for offshore oil and gas activities. This covers the entire oil and gas life cycle, from the initial licence application to decommissioning activities. All exploration activities, including seismic surveys, which could impact the environment are subject to rigorous environmental assessment, and offshore activities are controlled through an environmental permitting process.

Renewable Energy: Community Development

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2023 to Question 1544 on Renewable Energy: Community Development, when she expects discussions with the Community Energy Contact Group to conclude.

Justin Tomlinson: The Government recognises the role community groups play in our efforts to tackle climate change. We have met our commitment to consult on the barriers to community energy projects as this Call for Evidence was published on 8 April 2024. It will remain open for 12 weeks until 30 June 2024.

Marine Protected Areas

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2024 to Question 18572: Marine Protected Areas, whether she received advice from the (a) Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning and (b) Joint Nature Conservancy Council that any of the first 27 licences from the 33rd Offshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round would result in adverse impacts on marine protected areas.

Justin Tomlinson: The Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED) undertook a screening assessment under the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Conservation of Habitats) Regulations 2001. This assessment included consultation with appropriate nature conservation bodies, including Joint Nature Conservation Committee. OPRED also undertook a Marine Conservation Zone / Marine Protected Area assessment in accordance with the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. OPRED’s assessments concluded that award of the first 27 licences would not result in adverse impacts on the relevant protected areas. The SoS received advice from OPRED on the outcome of these assessments throughout the 33rd Round process. Assessment reports were published in July 2023: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64be43579c2df00012940285/33rd_Round_HRA_Screening_Report.pdf; https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64c77b5ff92186000d8667b6/33R_Round_MCZ_MPA_Assessment_Report.pdf.

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many people are recipients of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme in (a) Rother Valley constituency and (b) the rest of the UK as of 16 April 2024.

Justin Tomlinson: As at June 2023, there were 1,778 Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme (MPS) members living in the Rother Valley constituency. As at 29 February 2024, there were 116,143 MPS members. These are the latest available figures.

Coal: Concessions

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many people receive fuel under the National Concessionary Fuel Scheme in Rother Valley constituency.

Justin Tomlinson: There are 45 individuals in receipt of solid fuel in Rother Valley constituency postcode areas as of 15th April 2024. There are an additional 517 individuals that have selected the cash-in-lieu of fuel alternative available under National Concessionary Fuel Scheme arrangements.

Energy: Supply Chains

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has made an assessment of adequacy of local content levels in supply chains for the (a) oil and gas and (b) renewable energy sector.

Justin Tomlinson: The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) monitors UK content in upstream oil and gas through Supply Chain Action Plans. NSTA reports that, over the last three years, oil and gas related Operating Expenditure consistently delivered UK content above 85%, with Capital Expenditure and Abandonment Expenditure consistently delivering above 75% UK content. For renewables, the Department requires all large Contracts for Difference applicants to submit Supply Chain Plans, asking for the percentage of UK content of a project. These figures are commercially sensitive and only shared when Supply Chain Plans are published.

Mingyang Smart Energy

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the Mingyang Smart Energy turbine manufacturing facility was subject to national security checks.

Andrew Bowie: We cannot comment on individual investment cases, but investment into the energy sector is subject to the highest levels of national security scrutiny, and we will continue to work closely with industry to build secure supply chains and ensure the UK remains one of the most attractive investment destinations in the world.

Energy: Standing Charges

Taiwo Owatemi: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to reduce daily standing charges for gas and electricity in (a) Coventry and (b) the Midlands.

Amanda Solloway: Ofgem launched a call for input on standing charges looking at how it is applied to energy bills and what alternatives could be considered. Ofgem is currently analysing the responses and will publish its response in due course. The variance in standing charge is mainly due to regional differences in energy distribution costs. These costs reflect the expenses of maintaining and upgrading the distribution network in a specific area, and the number of consumers those costs are spread across. On 30 March, my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State and I wrote to the Chief Executive of Ofgem, highlighting the importance of keeping standing charges as low as possible.

Energy: Meters

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what information her Department holds on the number of reports of faulty smart meters in (a) the North West, (b) Lancashire and (c) Preston in the last 12 months; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure energy companies are accountable for the quality of smart meters they install.

Amanda Solloway: Almost 9 in 10 smart meters are sending automatic readings, but those that don’t will still be accurately measuring consumers’ energy, like a traditional meter.The Government is working closely with industry to drive down the number of smart meters not sending automatic readings. The numbers are improving but more progress is needed. Energy suppliers have an obligation to take all reasonable steps to operate smart meters in smart mode and Ofgem are responsible for regulating suppliers against this obligation. The Government does not hold geographic data on smart meters that aren’t sending automatic readings.

Green Deal Scheme: South Holland and the Deepings

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many energy-saving home improvement projects have been completed through theGreen DealinSouth Holland and the Deepings constituency as of 3 April 2024.

Amanda Solloway: The Department estimates that in South Holland and the Deepings constituency, eight projects are live (all measures installed but not yet paid off) and 12 projects have been completed (all measures installed and paid off). Data covers the period from May 2013 to March 2024.

Electricity Generation: Carbon Emissions

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made the potential role of kinetic energy floor tiling in decarbonising the British energy supply.

Amanda Solloway: The Department has not made any assessment of the potential role of kinetic energy floor tiling in decarbonising the British energy supply as the power output achievable is very small compared to the total power requirements of the UK.

Electricity Generation: Carbon Emissions

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate she has made of the level of carbon emissions produced by electricity (a) generated and (b) imported to Great Britain from the EU in (i) 2015, (ii) 2020 and (iii) 2023.

Amanda Solloway: (a) Greenhouse gas emissions estimates from electricity generation in Great Britain in 2015 were 100.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e). In 2020, emissions from electricity generation in Great Britain were 46.6 MtCO2e. This includes emissions from major power producers, but not emissions from companies generating their own electricity. Estimates for 2023 for Great Britain will be published in 2025. (b) The UK Government has not produced estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from the generation of electricity imported from the EU to Great Britain as these are not within the geographical scope that it is required to report on.

Electricity Generation: Carbon Emissions

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate she has made of the proportion of (a) coal, (b) gas fired, (c) nuclear and (d) renewable generated electricity which is imported into Britain via interconnector each year.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department does not hold data estimating the proportion of imported electricity generated from each fuel type. Total electricity imports by country are published in Energy Trends table 5.6.

Energy Bill Relief Scheme

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending until 2027 periods for finalising reconciliation for energy supplier subsidies following the closure of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.

Amanda Solloway: The Department has been working with energy suppliers and industry stakeholders to determine the best course of action on this matter, which includes ensuring that we retain the necessary protections to protect public funds.

Fuel Poverty

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2024 to Question 19394 on Fuel Poverty, if she will take steps to extend the list of energy efficiency measures to include new technologies; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of extending that list on energy bills for low-income households.

Amanda Solloway: Government energy efficiency schemes prioritise measures that have beneficial long-term effects on lowering bills and making homes more comfortable and affordable to live in, within the scope of the Standard Assessment Procedure model. The Government is currently developing the Home Energy Model which will replace the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP). The current Energy Company Obligation schemes require eligible measures to result in a reduction in the cost of heating a consumer’s home. There are mechanisms for new measures to be eligible where they meet this and other scheme requirements. The potential impact of new measures on energy bill savings for low-income households would have to be assessed in relation to the specific new measures selected.

Energy: Meters

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2024 to Question 18893 on Energy: Meters, whether her Department has had recent discussions with energy providers on the availability of technological solutions for households to replace radio teleswitching meters.

Amanda Solloway: Smart meters are the natural technological solution to replace the Radio Teleswitching Service (RTS) and associated meters.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2024 to Question 14127 Wind Power: Seas and Oceans, when she expects the assessment of AR6 Supply Chain Plans to be completed.

Andrew Bowie: The assessment of AR6 Supply Chain Plans was completed in late March.

Home Office

Spiking

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps to ensure that people who are arrested are tested to see if their drink has been spiked.

Laura Farris: The Home Office has no plans to implement mandatory spiking testing for arrestees.We urge anyone who believes they or someone around them has been spiked to contact the police as soon as possible to report the incident and submit a urine sample for testing through the approved lab-based process. Incidents can also be reported online - including anonymously.Individuals who have been arrested by the police but believe they have been spiked can raise this with them and submit a sample for testing.

Crime: Preston

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to tackle violence and sexual offences in Preston.

Laura Farris: As part of steps taken through our Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, we are tackling perpetrators and supporting victims.We have provided funding to the Lancashire PCC to roll out the Drive Project, which focuses on the most serious domestic abuse offenders to prevent them from abusing again, and funded Preston based Saraha to provide bilingual, comprehensive, face-to-face support service for women from black and minority ethnic backgrounds who are victims of domestic abuse.Nationally, we have invested £9.4 million to develop a New Operation Model for the investigation of rape through Operation Soteria. This ensures investigations are suspect based. All police forces in England and Wales are now implementing this new approach to rape investigations and we have provided £8.5m in 2023/24 to continue to support policing to improve their response to rape.Through the Safer Streets and Safety of Women at Night Funds, we have invested over £150 million to deliver interventions to tackle violence against women, anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime.This includes just over £3.4m for Lancashire, of which £146,568 has been awarded to Preston City Council to fund interventions such as the installation of CCTV, the deployment of taxi stewards and night-time economy sector training, along with improvements to accommodation for services assisting women at risk and recovery services for victims of sexual violence.Since 2019, the Home Office has provided over £8m for a Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) in Lancashire. VRUs bring together local partners to understand and tackle the drivers of serious violence in their area, including sexual abuse and domestic abuse.

Home Office: Labour Turnover

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff left his Department in each year since 2015.

Chris Philp: This information is published annually and can be found via the links below.https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statisticsData before 2019Civil Service statistics - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

Cybercrime

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many major cyber crime incidents have been reported since the National Cyber Strategy was introduced.

Tom Tugendhat: Since the announcement of the National Cyber Strategy on 15 December 2021, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has received 71 reports associated with cyber crime activity, considered to be significant.The NCSC categorise incidents based on numerous contemporaneous factors, including but not limited to, the technical impact of the incident, the nature of the affected organisation, and contextual considerations at the time of the incident report being received.NCSC and law enforcement take action against cyber criminals by taking down their malicious URLs used to defraud people.

Gambling: Crime

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes related to harmful gambling were committed in the last 12 months; what the nature of those crimes was; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of those crimes on (a) the economy and (b) wider society.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the impact of gambling-related (a) fraud and (b) other acquisitive crimes on the finances of the victims of those crimes.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent estimate of the total amount of money that has been returned to victims of gambling-related crimes by (a) the gambling industry, (b) Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings and (c) any other means in the 2023-24 financial year.

Chris Philp: Neither the Government nor the Gambling Commission hold information on how many crimes related to harmful gambling were committed in the last 12 months and there has been no recent estimate as to the total amount of money that has been returned to victims of gambling-related crimes.The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) in Department of Health and Social Care have undertaken an evidence review which provides estimates of the economic costs of harmful gambling, which includes a section on criminal activity (chapter 6).The economic cost of gambling-related harm in England: evidence update 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk)The Gambling Act 2005 sets out the following licensing objectives:preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime.ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open wayprotecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.As the statutory regulator, the Gambling Commission is responsible for making sure all licensing applications meet these objectives. The Commission has published a statement of principles for licensing and regulation which sets out how it governs what it does and how they help to meet the Act's licensing objectives.

Crime: Lancashire

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will (a) make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of crime levels in (i) Preston and (ii) Lancashire and (b) take steps to develop a plan to reduce bicycle theft in those areas.

Chris Philp: This Government recognises the impact acquisitive crime can have on individuals and communities. The 2021 Beating Crime Plan, sets out the Government’s strategy for cutting crime, protecting the law-abiding majority and making neighbourhoods safe. The plan can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1015382/Crime-plan-v10.pdf.Since 2010, overall crime excluding fraud and computer misuse is down by 55%, and we welcome the latest Crime Survey for England and Wales data, which shows that bicycle theft is also down 55% when comparing findings from the year ending September 2023 with the year ending March 2010.A key part of making acquisitive crime less attractive to criminals is making stolen goods harder to sell on. That is why we are working closely with policing and academic leads to examine what more can be done to tackle the disposal markets for stolen goods and reduce the profit from acquisitive crime.This Government also established the Safer Streets Fund. Since its inception in 2020, we have invested over £150 million to deliver interventions across England and Wales helping to tackle and prevent violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime. This includes investing just over £3.4 million in Lancashire, funding a range of initiatives such as CCTV and street lighting, improvements to home security measures and youth engagement and educational programmes.The Home Office is working closely with the British Transport Police (BTP), the national lead for cycle theft, to tackle the theft of bicycles. The BTP has launched the ‘double lock it’ campaign with police forces and organisations, providing advice to owners on how to protect their bicycles: https://www.btp.police.uk/police-forces/british-transport-police/areas/campaigns/double-lock-it/.The Department for Transport’s (DfT) Cycling and Walking Plan for England, also sets out initiatives to combat cycle theft, including encouraging retailers to number the bicycles they sell and offer customers the opportunity to register their bicycle on a database at the point of sale. The Plan is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycling-and-walking-plan-for-england.The BTP-led National Cycle Crime Group, working with DfT, have set up Cycle Crime Reduction Partnerships across the country to coordinate regional enforcement activity to disrupt organised cycle theft.

Offenders: Greater Manchester

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data his Department holds on the number of young people in Greater Manchester deemed at risk of Child Criminal Exploitation who have criminal offences recorded against them.

Chris Philp: The Home Office does not hold specific data on the number of young people in Greater Manchester deemed at risk of Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) who have criminal offences recorded against them. However, tackling CCE is a priority for this Government which is why we are providing funding to support Greater Manchester Police to help tackle county lines and CCE.Through our Drug Strategy, we are providing a targeted investment of up to £145m over three years to bolster our County Lines Programme. This includes funding a dedicated county lines taskforce in Greater Manchester Police, as well as funding Catch22 to provide a specialist support and rescue service for under 25’s and their families in Greater Manchester to help them safely reduce and exit their involvement from county lines including child criminal exploitation.We are also driving targeted action to respond to exploitation through the Home Office-funded Prevention Programme, delivered by The Children’s Society with funding of £1.37m for delivery between 2023-25. Through the programme, a dedicated Northwest Prevention Officer works to support a range of partners to improve the response to multiple forms of exploitation including CCE in the Northwest region.

Drugs: Lancashire

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to reduce levels of drug offences in (a) Preston and (b) Lancashire.

Chris Philp: Reducing drug-related crime is a key priority of the Government’s 10-year drugs strategy.We are making good progress. Since April 2022 we have closed over 2,500 county lines and delivered over 6,000 major and moderate organised crime group disruptions.We are also investing £532m into drug treatment which reduces crime and reoffending. There are now 24,500 more people in treatment across England, including increases in Lancashire.We are targeting treatment referrals at offenders. The percentage of prison leavers continuing treatment after release has also risen to a record high of 52% - an increase of 10% in the last 12 months.We are working with the National Police Chiefs Council to increase police referrals into drug treatment, as well as expanding Drug Testing on Arrest to identify those who use drugs. This builds on £2.1 million funding to deliver Project ADDER – a co-ordinated approach across policing and treatment to crack down on supply and support people tackle their addiction – in 13 hard hit areas including Lancashire.The government has asked every area in England to form a Combating Drugs Partnership (CDP) to work together to reduce drug-related harm and crime. Preston is covered by the Lancashire CDP, and the Government has supported the establishment of the Pan Lancashire Drugs and Alcohol Alliance, to help coordinate work across Lancashire’s three CDPs.

Wildlife: Crime

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department plans to incorporate wildlife crime into the Policing Education Qualification Framework.

Chris Philp: This Government recognises the importance of tackling wildlife crime, which is why, along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Home Office directly funds the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) to help tackle these crimes.The NWCU provides intelligence, analysis and investigative assistance to the police and other law enforcement agencies across the UK to support them in investigating wildlife crime. This includes supporting cases referred by Border Force to the National Crime Agency or to individual forces. The NWCU is also the UK policing focal point for EUROPOL and INTERPOL wildlife crime activity.In addition, the National Police Chiefs’ Council Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy 2022-2025 provides a framework through which policing, and its partners, can work together to tackle the most prevalent threats and emerging issues which predominantly affect rural communities.Training standards and the national policing curriculum (covering initial training for all officers) are set by the College of Policing to ensure all officers benefit from the same high standard of initial training, regardless of which force they join. Officers undertake further training and development in the course of their career, which may be tailored to their specific role.We do not currently have plans to incorporate wildlife crime into the Policing Education Qualification Framework.

Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 on (a) manufacturers, (b) consumers and (c) retailers.

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 on (a) the (i) agriculture, (ii) forestry and (iii) fishing industry, (b) the construction industry and (c) other sectors.

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to engage with stakeholders on the drafting of secondary legislation under the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023; and what his planned timescale is for bringing forward such legislation.

Chris Philp: The Government supported the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023. The Act will require immobilisers and forensic marking to be fitted as standard to specified new agricultural equipment such as All-Terrain Vehicles and quad bikes.We published a Call for Evidence last summer, seeking views on the details needed for the secondary legislation, targeted at those who may be affected by proposals, including the agricultural and construction sectors, manufacturers, dealers, retailers, tradespeople and law enforcement.Over 200 responses were received, and we have further engaged with manufacturers and retailers on the detail. I am carefully considering responses before publishing the Government response.Work has begun on the necessary secondary legislation regulations.The Act will help prevent equipment from being stolen in the first place, and will have a deterrent effect by making it harder for criminals to sell on stolen machinery. The Act will also assist the police with identifying the owners of stolen equipment when it is recovered, and provide additional lines of enquiry.

Anti-social Behaviour: Lancashire

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help ensure that anti-social behaviour is investigated in (a) Preston and (b) Lancashire.

Chris Philp: The investigation of anti-social behaviour in Lancashire is a matter for the Chief Constable of Lancashire Constabulary and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire.Last year the Government launched the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/anti-social-behaviour-action-plan) ensuring the police, local authorities and other relevant agencies have the tools they need to tackle anti-social behaviour.The Plan is backed by £160m of funding. This includes funding an increased police and other uniformed presence to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, targeting hotspots. Initially we worked with 10 police force areas, including Lancashire Constabulary which received £1,050,000. From April this has been extended to every police force in England and Wales and Lancashire will receive £ 1,713,512 for the hotspot programme tackling areas of high incidents of both ASB and serious violence.

Visas: Ukraine

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of granting a visa waiver for Ukrainians visiting relatives and friends (a) displaced by the war in Ukraine and (b) temporarily resident in the UK.

Tom Pursglove: Visit visas are an important part of securing the UK’s border.Waiving visa requirements for a specific cohort of Ukrainian nationals would not be consistent with the purpose of the visa requirement. There is no obvious mechanism for delivering the utility of a visa application and biometric enrolment, which underpin the role visas play in securing our border, whilst also distinguishing a cohort of Ukrainian nationals who have the requirements waived. Identifying those individuals and enrolling their biometrics would require a process which would be, in practice, nearly identical to a visa application.Ukrainians who want to visit relatives and friends in the UK can apply for a standard visitor visa, including multiple-entry visas. The UK has a visa application centre (VAC) in Kyiv, and a VAC network in neighbouring countries, enabling Ukrainians to access these services and apply for visas.This is in no way a reflection on our support for Ukraine which remains, and will always remain, steadfast. The Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme remains open for new applications from those wishing to come to the UK, seeking temporary sanctuary from the conflict.To provide future certainty, we recently announced the new Ukraine Permission Extension scheme, which is a new visa scheme for existing Ukraine scheme visa holders who have made the UK their temporary home. It will provide permission to stay in the UK for an additional 18 months and is due to open early in 2025.

Visas: Graduates

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Professor Brian Bell's letter, published by his Department on 12 March 2024, what assessment he has made of Migration Advisory Committee's concerns on the timescales for its review of the Graduate route.

Tom Pursglove: It is important that we provide certainty on this issue in a timely manner, which is why we asked the MAC to carry out a rapid review. We will consider the evidence put forward by the MAC very closely.

Visas: Graduates

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the correspondence of 12 March 2024 from Professor Brian Bell, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the timescales given for the Migration Advisory Committee's review of the graduate route on the quality and quantity of evidence that the Committee can use to answer the questions included in the commissioning letter.

Tom Pursglove: It is important that we provide certainty on this issue in a timely manner, which is why we asked the MAC to carry out a rapid review. We will consider the evidence put forward by the MAC very closely.

Asylum: Northern Ireland

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hotels are being used to house asylum seekers in Northern Ireland.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office has been clear that the use of hotels is a temporary and short-term measure to ensure we meet our statutory obligation to accommodate destitute asylum seekers. We have already made significant progress by ending the use of 100 hotels by 31 March 2024, including 6 in Northern Ireland. Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Data is published on a quarterly basis. The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates the number of hotels used to house asylum seekers by region.

Visas: Graduates

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the impact of the (a) removal of the ability of students on taught masters courses to bring dependants and (b) increase in (i) visa and (ii) Immigration Health Surcharge fees on levels of demand for the Graduate visa.

Tom Pursglove: An Impact Assessment has been prepared to accompany the dependant changes to the Student route, announced in May 2023, which came into force in January 2024. The Impact Assessment will be published in due course.Impact assessments estimating the impacts of increasing visa fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge were published alongside the explanatory material for the changes. These can be found at The Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023 - Impact Assessment (legislation.gov.uk) and The Immigration (Health Charge) (Amendment) Order 2023 - Impact Assessment (legislation.gov.uk).

Immigration Controls: Religion

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to engage with the (a) Jewish, (b) Muslim, (c) Sikh and (d) other religious communities on their treatment by border officials.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office seeks to engage and consult with all communities and members of the public in developing our policies and services for the public. This includes people from different religious communities. We also ensure that there are equality impact assessments carried out when developing new policies and making important decisions which impact the public in line with our statutory duties under the Equality Act 2010.

Passports

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Passport Office has taken to make travellers aware of the need to renew their passport if they intend to travel 10 years following the issue date.

Tom Pursglove: Foreign travel advice, including passport validity and other entry requirements, is delivered by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.His Majesty’s Passport Office promote this advice through social media, and by sending targeted text message (SMS) reminders where a passport is over 9 years and 8 months, and the contact details are held from the related passport application. These text messages specifically reference the passport validity rules for travel to Europe.

Asylum

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing irregular migrants to make applications for asylum whilst still residing in (a) France and (b) Belgium.

Tom Pursglove: The UK has a proud record of providing protection for those who need it. However, there is no provision within our Immigration Rules for someone to be allowed to travel to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge. Whilst we sympathise with people in many difficult situations around the world, the capacity of the UK is not unlimited, and we could not possibly consider protection claims from the very large numbers of people overseas who might like to come here. Those in need of immediate protection should take the fastest route to safety and claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. There are several powerful reasons why allowing migrants to make applications for asylum from France and Belgium is not a viable option and could actually lead to adverse consequences. The responsibility for asylum seekers and refugees lies with the authorities of the country in which they are present in accordance with their international obligations – in this case France and Belgium. EU countries operate the Common European Asylum System; a framework of rules and procedures based on the full and inclusive application of the Refugee Convention. The aim of this system is not just to ensure fair and humane treatment of applicants for international protection, but also to discourage secondary movements of people once they have reached safety, acknowledging the many problems that such movements create. There is therefore no reason why an individual who is residing in France or Belgium and who needs protection should not make their claim in France or Belgium and certainly no reasons why they should make the perilous onward journey to the UK. France and Belgium are both safe countries, so the protection they seek is already available to them. The UK processing asylum claims in France and Belgium would also have the potential to create more harm, and actually support the smugglers. Dangerous journeys and the work of the despicable smugglers are not just confined to routes across the Channel. Vulnerable people, if they have an incentive to aim for France or Belgium as a means of entering the UK, would be encouraged to make dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean and over land to France and Belgium. It would create a new pull factor, motivating people to again entrust themselves to smugglers. Even where they may avoid the danger of a small boat, we know from heart breaking experience that journeys over land, for example in the back of lorries, can be equally as perilous. We cannot, and must not, do anything which supports the smugglers’ business model. Our focus is on helping people directly from regions of conflict and instability, and we believe that our resettlement programmes are the best way to provide much needed support. Between 2015 and September 2023, over half a million people were offered safe and legal routes into the UK.

Bibby Stockholm: Inspections

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8806 on Bibby Stockholm: Inspections, on what dates and where the inspections of the Bibby Stockholm were conducted by Plymouth Marine Office.

Tom Pursglove: The inspection from the Plymouth Marine Office was conducted on 31 August 2023 in Portland, with the barge in its current location.

Immigration Controls: Airports

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to remove the entitlement of EU passport holders to use fast-track passport gates at UK airports.

Tom Pursglove: We keep e-passport gate (eGate) eligibility under review and operate our border controls in the interests of the UK, balancing border security with passenger flow. EU and EEA passport holders are currently eligible to use eGates to enter the UK and we have no plans to change this. This would be in contradiction with our stated ambition to digitise the border by increasing the use of automation and eGates by those currently eligible and investigating options to expand eligibility to further cohorts.

Electronic Travel Authorisations

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps to coordinate the rollout of the Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme with the (a) EU Entry/Exit System and (b) European Travel Information and Authorisation System.

Tom Pursglove: The UK ETA scheme was launched on 25 October 2023, to secure our borders and make the UK safer. The rollout of the ETA scheme will continue in 2024.The EU Entry/Exit System and ETIAS are EU schemes, with separate and distinct rollout schedules. We understand that the EU Entry/Exit System is due to be implemented in autumn 2024. The ETIAS scheme will follow in mid-2025, by which point it is the Government’s ambition to have concluded the roll out of the UK ETA scheme.The UK Government has regular talks with the European Commission and EU member states at both political and official levels to manage the impact of the introduction of the EU Entry/Exit System and ETIAS for British Citizens.

Heathrow Airport: Immigration Controls

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2024 to Question 19448 on Heathrow Airport: Immigration Controls, if he will publish the Equality Impact Assessments produced for the (a) Heathrow Change Programme and (b) proposed roster system for the wider public.

Tom Pursglove: An Equality Impact Assessment on the Heathrow Change Programme was published electronically to departmental trade unions on 4 August 2023.An Equality Impact Assessment on the proposed roster was published electronically to departmental trade unions on 13 September 2023.We do not intend to publish either of the Equality Impact Assessments further.

Immigration Controls: Belgium and France

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with his (a) French and (b) Belgian counterparts on the use of European Union passport e-gates by British nationals in (i) the European Union and (ii) Gare du Nord station.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continue to engage with European counterparts on expanding access to e-Gates for British nationals travelling to the EU.The use of e-Gates for third country nationals is decided by EU Member States on a country-by-country basis. British nationals are already able to use e-Gates at Gare du Nord station.

Electronic Travel Authorisations

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to update the impact assessment for Electronic Travel Authorisation to include airside transit passengers.

Tom Pursglove: Electronic Travel Authorisations deliver important security benefits. A blanket exemption to the ETA requirement for passengers transiting airside would fundamentally undermine the rationale of the scheme by creating a permission free route of travel into the UK which would be open to abuse. We will keep our position under review to monitor the impact on transit as the scheme is rolled out.

Electronic Travel Authorisations

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish a revised impact assessment for Electronic Travel Authorisation to include an assessment of the impact of that scheme on airside transit passengers.

Tom Pursglove: Electronic Travel Authorisations deliver important security benefits. A blanket exemption to the ETA requirement for passengers transiting airside would fundamentally undermine the rationale of the scheme by creating a permission free route of travel into the UK which would be open to abuse.We will keep our position under review to monitor the impact on transit as the scheme is rolled out.

Windrush Compensation Scheme

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in (a) England, (b) the North West, (c) Lancashire and (d) Preston have been (i) awarded and (ii) denied compensation from the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

Tom Pursglove: Information on the number of Windrush Compensation Scheme claims that have received a compensation payment and that have received a zero entitlement decision is published as part of the Transparency Data release. The latest published data, covering the period up to the end of February 2024, is available here: Windrush Compensation Scheme data: February 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).The Windrush Compensation Scheme does not publish regional data about compensation awards and zero-entitlement decisions.A zero entitlement claim is one where the person making the claim meets the eligibility criteria under the scheme rules, but is not entitled to any compensation as we have not been able to identify any losses or impacts suffered as a result of an inability to demonstrate lawful status.

Asylum: Hotels

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2024 to Question 14458 on Asylum: hotels, how many asylum seekers are being housed in UK hotel accommodation by his Department as of 17 April 2024.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office has been clear that the use of hotels is a temporary and necessary measure to ensure we meet our statutory obligation to accommodate destitute asylum seekers. We have already made significant progress by no longer using 100 hotels for asylum seekers on 31 March 2024. A total of 150 hotels will no longer be used for accommodating asylum seekers by the beginning of May, reducing the strain on local communities.Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Data is published on a quarterly basis.

Visas: British National (Overseas)

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Hong Kong residents born before 1997 have been granted British National (Overseas) visas under exceptional circumstances.

Tom Pursglove: All applications are determined on a case-by-case basis depending on their individual circumstances.The Home Office does not hold data on the number of applications that have been granted a British National (Overseas) visa specifically under exceptional circumstances.The Home Office releases data on the BN(O) route as part of the quarterly migration statistics which can be found at the following link: Safe and legal (humanitarian) routes to the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Bibby Stockholm

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that all staff employed on the Bibby Stockholm (a) by his Department and (b) through sub-contracts are paid at least the national minimum wage.

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data his Department holds on the number and proportion of berths on the Bibby Stockholm that are reserved for staff to live on board; and whether the accommodation offset is applied to the pay of any staff being paid at the level of the national minimum wage.

Tom Pursglove: All staff are paid at a minimum of the National Living Wage. No accommodation offset is applied to the rate of pay for staff who reside on the Bibby Stockholm.

Brook House Immigration Removal Centre

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the start and end times were of the two day-time and one night-time lock-in periods at Brook House IRC as of (a) 12 April 2024 and (b) 1 November 2023.

Michael Tomlinson: The dignity and welfare of residents across the entire immigration detention estate is of the utmost importance and the use of periods of time where individuals’ freedom of movement is restricted contributes to the maintenance of a safe and secure environment in our centres.From 4 December 2023 the Home Office changed the lock-in times from 12.00pm-12:30pm and 5.00pm-5:30pm to 11:30am-12:30pm and 4:30pm-5:30pm. All residents need to be in their rooms for one hour between 11:30-12:30 and 4:30pm-5:30pm, with meal services provided at the end of these times. The Home Office requested this change to ensure that all residents are accounted for, that staff can conduct welfare checks on vulnerable residents, and that planned discharges can be carried out safely.

Online Capability Centre

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled New tech partnership to stop the boats, published on 6 August 2023, when the Online Capability Centre became operational.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff are currently employed at the Online Capability Centre.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled New tech partnership to stop the boats, published on 6 August 2023, when the hackathon event took place.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled New tech partnership to stop the boats, published on 6 August 2023, with which social media companies his Department is in partnership.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled New tech partnership to stop the boats, published on 6 August 2023, how many (a) posts, (b) pages and (c) accounts have been (i) removed and (ii) suspended as a result of the partnership with social media companies.

Michael Tomlinson: Following the announcement by the Prime Minister of the new tech partnership to stop the boats on 6 August 2023, the Home Office and National Crime Agency (NCA) have strengthened the voluntary partnership with social media companies, Meta, YouTube, X/Twitter, to accelerate action to tackle people smuggling content online. We continue to explore further options, such as a ‘hackathon’ model to develop our innovative approach to break the business model of people smugglers advertising their services online.To date we have successfully removed 98% of content flagged to social media companies, with over 9000 posts, pages and accounts removed since November 2021.The Online Communications Centre (previously known as the Online Capability Centre) has been operational since October 2023 and with expertise in policy, investigations and intelligence and with access to a range of niche capabilities in tackling the online threat. We cannot comment on individual numbers of officers in classified roles.

Women and Equalities

Visas: Equality

Deidre Brock: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will have discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential impact of the increased Minimum Income Requirement on (a) women and (b) people belonging to specific ethnicities.

Maria Caulfield: The Minister for Women and Equalities wrote to all Government departments in December last year reminding them of their statutory duty to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty when shaping policy and delivering services. The duty requires public authorities to ensure that equality issues are actively considered in order to remove or minimise disadvantage. As part of the Equality Act 2010, the Public Sector Equality Duty includes the protected characteristics of sex and race.To assist departments' compliance with the duty, the Minister for Women and Equalities provided updated Public Sector Equality Duty guidance.

Ministry of Defence

Type 45 Destroyers

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his Department’s policy to extend the service of the Type 45 Destroyer beyond 2038.

James Cartlidge: The Type 45 Destroyer Class is currently due to be Out of Service in 2038 and no decision has been taken on an extension beyond this date.

Guided Weapons: Navy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the land-attack missile capabilities of the Royal Navy; and what steps he has taken to strengthen those capabilities.

James Cartlidge: Capability assessment is routine activity for Defence, ensuring that the UK Armed Forces keeps pace with the emerging threat and adopts the latest technology. The Royal Navy (RN) is capable of delivering land attack from all domains: Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles launched from Astute Class Submarines; Paveway IV precision guided bombs from F-35B; and most recently, the Naval Strike Missile, which is in the process of being fitted to surface ships. Several future options, which include a land attack capability, are also under consideration as part of the Future Cruise and Anti-Ship Weapon programme which will equip future RN ships. We continually keep all such capabilities under review, including as part of our wider munitions strategy.

Lasers: Weapons

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to ensure that the Dragonfire laser directed-energy weapon achieves operational capability.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has committed to accelerating DragonFire Laser Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) into operational capability to meet real world threats. Thus far, the DragonFire system has been tested against a range of targets, proving to be highly effective. This has been further evidenced through Dstl's Operational Analysis, confirming the technology's benefits against the threats faced by the Royal Navy in the Red Sea. The MOD has also invested in understanding the risks of integrating systems onto Royal Navy vessels and therefore has experience in the matter. To deliver at greater pace, we will be using the principles of Minimum Deployable Capability and spiral development, as set out in our new Integrated Procurement Model.

Army: Genito-urinary Medicine

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which army unit is alleged to be the subject of the research entitled Are British soldiers adequately prepared to make safe sexual health decisions when deployed to areas with high HIV prevalence?, published in the British Medical Journal Military Health on 21 March 2024 on initiation ceremonies in Kenya.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The article was originally published in the British Medical Journal Military Health in July 2022. The purpose of the research was to consider the effectiveness of the sexual health brief Service personnel receive when they arrive in Kenya to determine whether the brief had any influence on soldiers’ approach to sexual health. Information about which units’ participants served with was not captured as part of the research.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what data his Department holds on the number of compensation payments awarded to families living in service family accommodation in Scotland since April 2022.

James Cartlidge: Since 1 April 2022 1,724 compensation claims have been paid to Service personnel living in Service Family Accommodation (SFA) in Scotland.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2024 to Question 19178 on Armed Forces: Housing, if he will provide a breakdown of this figure for Scotland.

James Cartlidge: For the period 1 April 2023 to 29 February 2024, the Department spent £21,004 on housing Service personnel and their families in emergency accommodation in Scotland due to major repairs needed at their military accommodation.Information for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 is not separately identifiable due to the way in which data was held at the time.

Defence Equipment

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what air defence systems are in use in the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army and (c) RAF as of 17 April 2024.

James Cartlidge: As of 17 April 2024, the following air defence systems are in use: Royal Navy:Sea Viper (Guided Weapon System 45)Sea Ceptor (Guided Weapon System 35)Phalanx B (Close In Weapon System)30mm DS30B Cannon30mm Automatic Small Calibre Gun MK1.5 Army:Sky SabreHigh Velocity MissileLand Environment Air Picture Provision Royal Air Force:Lightning and Typhoon aircraft are equipped with Meteor, Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles (ASRAAM) and Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM).Both aircraft also have air-to-air cannon.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships have been placed at (a) extended readiness, (b) mothballed and (c) tied up alongside without a date to return to sea as of 12 April 2024.

James Cartlidge: As of 12 April 2024, RFA Wave Knight and Wave Ruler are currently in extended readiness. All other RFA platforms were either at sea or are planned to return to sea in future.

RFA Fort Victoria

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to sail RFA Fort Victoria again.

James Cartlidge: RFA FORT VICTORIA is in a scheduled refit package to prepare her for future service. All Royal Navy (RN) ships rotate through planned operating cycles and this results in individual ships being at various levels of readiness at any one time in accordance with long-term operating schedules and operational needs; they remain in service during these periods but may not be deployable. It is our policy not to disclose the fine details of forward availability forecasts of individual ships as this would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces. The RN does publish annual figures for readiness days, the first of which was released in November 2023.

Defence: Space Technology

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 February 2024 to Question 14272 on Defence: Space Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Skynet secure satellite communications programme continues to provide a significant boost to the UK space sector.

James Cartlidge: The SKYNET secure satellite communications programme, which is investing £5 billion over the next decade, provides a significant boost to the industry through direct investment into the sector and use of social value provisions in contracts.SKYNET provides long-term investment in the UK space sector. This includes promoting the development of new technology and use of Small and Medium Enterprises. Under SKYNET contracts, the Prime contractor is required to demonstrate social value. This includes measures such as investment into graduate or apprenticeship schemes. This will increasingly be part of our approach to major contracts for the space sector in support of our national policy ambitions under the recently-published Space Industrial Plan. As we move towards the next generation of SKYNET, the investment in this programme will continue to help develop the thriving UK space sector.

RFA Tiderace

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects RFA Tiderace to next be put to sea.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether RFA Tiderace is being placed at extended readiness.

James Cartlidge: Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ships are adjusted to reflect operational requirements and to ensure outputs are optimised. Individual ships will be generated to different levels of readiness as required. As such, RFA Tiderace is currently alongside for a period and will be regenerated as needed.

Type 23 frigates

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the operational status is of each of the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates as of 12 April 2024.

James Cartlidge: As of 12 April 2024, five Type 23 Frigates were available. The remaining six were in various stages of refit and therefore were not available for operations.

Nuclear Submarines: Safety

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many nuclear site events there were at (a) Coulport and (b) Faslane in the last 12 months.

James Cartlidge: The table below provides the number of Nuclear Site Event Reports (NSERs) at Coulport and Faslane recorded between January 2023 to April 2024. These are shown according to their categorisation using criteria agreed locally in 2015. Nuclear Site Events- 2023Category ACategory BCategory CCategory DBelow ScaleCoulport004176Faslane14123777 Nuclear Site Events- 2024Category ACategory BCategory CCategory DBelow ScaleCoulport00570Faslane01252 In line with Industry Good Practice and in common with other defence and civil nuclear sites, His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde has a well-established system for raising NSERs. NSERs are raised to foster a robust safety culture that learns from experience, whether that is equipment failures, human error, procedural failings, documentation shortcoming or near-misses. The safety significance of all reported events remains low and are below Level 1, the lowest of the seven-point Internal Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). None of the events caused harm to the health of any member of staff on the Naval Base or to any member of the public or have resulted in any radiological impact to the environment.

Defence: Nuclear Engineering

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of graduate nuclear (a) engineers and (b) scientists required for the military nuclear programme.

James Cartlidge: As announced in the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) Command Paper: Delivering the UK’s Nuclear Deterrent as a National Endeavor, the Department is investing to increase its intake of nuclear sector graduates by an additional 2,000 personnel over the next four years.Of these 2,000, over 1,600 are for the DNE, with up to 70% of these graduates expected to join in engineering posts with the remainder in a range of supporting professions such as science (including physics, material science, nuclear science), commercial and finance.

Military Aircraft: Gliding

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how the Royal Air Force disposed of the Grob 109B Vigilant aircraft that was previously used by Volunteer Gliding Squadrons.

James Cartlidge: The Vigilant glider fleet was withdrawn from service in 2018. Two aircraft have been deactivated and retained as training aids and gate guardians. The remaining gliders were handed over to the Defence Equipment Sales Authority for disposal, de-registered from the military aircraft register, and were sold to Aerobility in 2020.

Canada: AUKUS

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the (a) implications for his policies of the report by the Legatum Institute entitled From AUKUS to CAUKUS: The Case for Canadian Integration, published on 8 February 2024 and (b) potential merits of including Canada in Pillar II of the AUKUS agreement.

James Cartlidge: The 8 April 2024 AUKUS Defence Ministers' statement stated that AUKUS countries are now considering collaborating with additional countries on Pillar Two projects. AUKUS Governments will undertake consultations in 2024 with Japan and other prospective partners. Bilaterally, we deeply value our enduring partnership with Canada, including as a Five Eyes member, and recognise Canada's interest in AUKUS Pillar Two.

Ministry of Defence: ICT

Dame Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, updated on 29 February 2024, what steps his Department has taken to mitigate the risks of red-rated legacy IT systems.

James Cartlidge: The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support Departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify ‘red-rated’ systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by next year (2025). It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within the Ministry of Defence’s IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems are at risk, and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities.

Army: Vacancies

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts in Army Command were withdrawn since the introduction of internal recruitment restrictions in July 2023.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts in Air Command are being actively recruited for.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many posts in Navy Command are (a) vacant and (b) not being actively recruited for as of 16 April 2024.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts in (a) Head Office and (b) Corporate Services were withdrawn since the introduction of internal recruitment restrictions in July 2023.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts in Army Command are being actively recruited for..

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts in Navy Command have been withdrawn since the introduction of internal recruitment restrictions in July 2023.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many posts in Army Command are (a) vacant and (b) not being actively recruited for.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many posts in Head Office and Corporate Services are (a) vacant and (b) not being actively recruited for as of 16 April 2024.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts in Strategic Command have been withdrawn since the introduction of internal recruitment restrictions in July 2023.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts in his Department are being actively recruited for as of 16 April 2024.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts in Head Office and Corporate Services are being actively recruited for as of 16 April 2024.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of vacant posts have been withdrawn from Air Command since the introduction of internal restrictions in July 2023.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many posts in Air Command are (a) vacant and (b) not being actively recruited for.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts in Strategic Command are being actively recruited for.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts in the Defence Nuclear Organisation have been withdrawn since the introduction of internal restrictions in July 2023.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many posts in the Defence Infrastructure Organisation are (a) vacant and (b) not being actively recruited for.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts in the Defence Infrastructure Organisation are being actively recruited for.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many posts in Navy Command are (a) vacant and (b) not being actively recruited for.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many vacant posts in his Department have been withdrawn since the introduction of internal restrictions in July 2023.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many posts in Strategic Command are vacant but are not actively being filled as of 17 April 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: In response to the Government's policy announcement to implement a cap on Civil Service headcount, the Department is currently reviewing its future Civil Service workforce requirement aligned to this direction. Vacancies are being reviewed as part of workforce planning and prioritisation activity. Until this work is completed it is not possible to provide specific numbers of posts vacant/not being actively recruited.

Navy: Staff

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many trained marine systems personnel the Royal Navy has; and what the target number is.

Leo Docherty: The Marine Engineering branch is a vital part of the Royal Navy (RN) these are exceptionally skilled and highly valued personnel, crucial to ensuring the RN can continue to meet its commitments. The number of trained Marine Engineers (MEs) is a constantly fluctuating number, however as of 17 April 2024:  ME General ServiceME SubmarinerOfficer276248Rating2,1251,070Total24011318  The forecast figures for April 2025 are:  ME General ServiceME SubmarinerOfficer298283Rating2, 4641,204Total27621487*These figures do not include those currently in the training pipeline to join the branch.

Army: Training

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which British Army regiments have trained in Kenya since 2012; and on what dates that training took place.

Leo Docherty: The table below shows the Army units which have trained in British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) between 2019 – March 2024. Due to a change in information technology systems and the way in which records are held, data prior to 2019 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Exercise dateUnitFeb – Mar 243rd Battalion, The RiflesOct – Nov 231st Battalion, The Grenadier GuardsJun – Jul 233rd Battalion, The Parachute RegimentMar – Apr 231st Battalion, The Coldstream GuardsOct – Nov 221st Battalion, The RiflesMar – Apr 221st Battalion, The Princess of Wales’s Royal RegimentOct – Nov 212nd Battalion, The RiflesFeb – Mar 212nd Battalion, The Mercian RegimentMar – Apr 202nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of ScotlandJan – Mar 203rd Battalion, The Parachute RegimentOct – Nov 192nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland 1st Battalion, The Coldstream GuardsMay – Jun 192nd Battalion, The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment 4th Battalion, The RiflesFeb – Mar 192nd Battalion, The RiflesJan – Feb 191st Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

Rwanda: Deportation

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to take steps with the Secretary of State for the Home Department to use RAF Voyager aircraft to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Leo Docherty: The Home Office is responsible for operationalising Migration and Economic Development Partnership flights to Rwanda and it plans to do so using a commercial provider. The Secretary of State for Defence will however consider any requests for support according to the normal Military Aid to the Civil Authorities process.

Rwanda: Deportation

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether a deployment of RAF Voyagers to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda would require an on the ground UK military presence in Rwanda to receive and refuel the RAF aircraft.

Leo Docherty: The RAF routinely flies to civilian airports around the world. As is common throughout the aviation industry, ground handling services at civilian airports are provided through the receiving aerodrome or civil fixed base operator.

Submarines: Staff

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on making additional payments to senior officers and shortage professions on board Royal Navy submarines to ensure submarines can put to sea.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Royal Navy has sufficient personnel to meet all of its operational commitments. However, the RN continues to work to identify innovative measures to recruit and retain the highest quality personnel. The Submarine Remuneration Review (SMRR) seeks to modernise the way in which the Royal Navy intends to remunerate all of it’s submariners by ensuring a new simplified scheme is implemented which improves both requirement and retention.

Submarines: Staff

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of (a) additional to their wages and (b) deployment allowances that were made to the crew of submarines providing the continual at sea deterrent in each of the last five years.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The tables below provide the data requested.  Table A – Cost for Submariner Recruitment & Retention Pay [Paid Above Basic Salary] Financial Year2019-202020-212021-222022-232023-24 Recruitment & Retention Pay [Submariner]£5,829,718£6,020,589£5,899,253£6,338,728£6,750,011  Table B – Total Costs of Local Oversea Allowance (LOA) and Longer Separation Allowances (LSA)  Financial Year2019-202020-212021-222022-232023-24 Total£1,136,491£1,682,940£1,105,415£1,396,261£2,149,526

Ministry of Defence: Canada and New Zealand

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has met with his (a) Canadian and (b) New Zealand counterparts in 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I can confirm that the Secretary of State for Defence has met his Canadian counterpart on two occasions in 2024, and has spoken with his New Zealand counterpart once and will meet with her in due course.

Ministry of Defence: Labour Turnover

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff left his Department in each year since 2015.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The below table shows the civilian outflow from MOD Main Top Level Budgetary areas (TLB) and Trading Fund and Executive Agencies, by financial year, since 2014/2015. Financial YearNumber2014-156,5632015-165,5662016-174,5642017-184,5532018-194,8122019-205,7272020-213,7582021-225,9032022-236,0231 April 2023 – 30 September 20232,998 This information, along with full statistical analysis on the strength of MOD civilian personnel, is publicly available in the MOD biannual civilian personnel reports published by the Office for National Statistics on gov.uk at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-biannual-civilian-personnel-statisticsindex Data for the 2023-24 financial year will be published on 16 May 2024.

Ukraine: Military Aid

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Government plans to make a financial contribution to the Czech Republic scheme for the purchasing of artillery shells for Ukraine.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Government has participated in formal discussions with the Czech Republic on supporting its procurement of artillery shells for Ukraine.

Leo Docherty: The UK remains fully engaged with the international capability coalitions and numerous other partners to understand where further opportunities may exist to increase our support to Ukraine. To date the UK has provided over 300,000 artillery shells to Ukraine, and has committed to delivering 100s of thousands more this financial year, and a further investment of £245 million on artillery ammunition in 2024-25.

Falkland Islands: Security

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed joint military base in Ushuaia on the security of the Falkland Islands.

Leo Docherty: We keep our defence posture in the South Atlantic under regular review, to take account of the full range of developments. I am satisfied that the current military presence in the South Atlantic is at the appropriate level to ensure the defence of the Islands.

Armed Forces: Private Rented Housing

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) units have been rented privately in each year since 2019; what the (a) average, (b) longest and (c) shortest timeframe for renters having been given notice to quit has been since 2019; and how many of his Department's sites on which SFA is located have had 10 or more notices to quit served in the same calendar month since 2019.

James Cartlidge: The number and percentage of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties that have been rented privately in each year since 2019 is shown in the table below:  DatesTotal StockPrivately LETPercentage Privately LETApr-201949,4379411.90%Apr-202049,1431,3132.67%Apr-202148,5181,5143.12%Apr-202247,3911,4052.96%Apr-202347,2861,4012.96%Apr-202447,0941,2962.75%  Sites where ten or more Notices to Quit (NTQ) have been served at the same time are:Colchester, Essex, in July 2022 24 NTQ’s were served [properties required to support a unit relocation].RAF Henlow, Bedfordshire, in March 2024 22 NTQ’s were served [site disposal]. In line with standard procedure, occupants who have been served a NTQ are provided with 65 days’ notice as specified within the tenancy agreement. However, individual specific circumstances will be taken into account where there are extenuating circumstances, as is the case at RAF Henlow, where one year’s notice has been given. The average timeframe for a NTQ could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Buildings: Safety

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to secure contributions towards the costs of building safety remediation from (a) cladding manufacturers, (b) insulation manufacturers, (c) fire door manufacturers, (d) architects, (e) building contractors, (f) building control organisations and (g) warranty providers.

Lee Rowley: I refer my Hon Gentleman to the oral statement made in the House of Commons on 26th March 2024 (Official Report HC, Volume 747, Column 1414).

Antisemitism Policy Trust

Brendan Clarke-Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Second Report of the House of Lords Conduct Committee of Session 2023-2024 on The conduct of Lord Mann, HL95, published on 27 March 2024, what discussions he has had with the Antisemitism Policy Trust on the use of staff funded by his Department for non-Departmental work.

Lee Rowley: Government regularly engages with the Trust among a range of other stakeholders to understand and respond to antisemitism.

High Rise Flats: Safety

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to receive a Building Assessment Certificate.

Lee Rowley: At the beginning of April, the Building Safety Regulator started directing Principal Accountable Persons to apply for their Building Safety Assessment Certificate. We will monitor this process carefully. The Department is happy to receive further information about specific cases.

Housing: Suffolk Coastal

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many homes were built in Suffolk Coastal constituency in the last 12 months.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the availability of homes in Suffolk.

Lee Rowley: We are taking significant steps to address the challenges to increasing housing supply around the country, including in Suffolk. We recognise the scale of challenges facing the housebuilding sector in the current macro-economic climate. Against this challenging backdrop, we have invested billions in housing since the start of this Parliament. This investment will support bringing forward land for development, enabling the market to deliver the homes and infrastructure that communities need, and support increasing local authority planning capacity.We have also taken significant measures through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, and National Planning Policy Framework, to reform the planning system. These measures aim to reduce planning delays, bureaucracy, slow build-out rates, and wider barriers to growth and development.We want decisions about homes to be driven locally and we want to get more local plans in place to deliver the homes we need. This is why we have revised the National Planning Policy Framework (published 19 December 2023) to be clearer about the importance of planning for homes and other development that our communities need.The Department publishes an annual release entitled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply, with estimates of new homes delivered in each local authority, including East Suffolk, in each financial year since 2001-02, shown in Live Table 122 at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-net-supply-of-housing.Figures at parliamentary constituency level are not centrally collected.

Question

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on incorporating connectivity measures into National Development Management Policies.

Lee Rowley: Work is underway to prepare National Development Management Policies, and officials will be working with their counterparts in other departments where they have an interest, including the Department for Transport. We are aware that access to services is an area that a number of departments have an interest in. We intend to consult fully on both the scope and content of the policies before any are put in place.

Question

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to encourage property developers to incorporate net zero measures in planning applications.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Honourable Member to paragraph 157 of the National Planning Policy Framework.

Question

Jane Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to increase levels of home ownership.

Lee Rowley: The Government has a range of schemes available to help improve access to home ownership, including First Homes, Shared Ownership, Right to Buy, the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme and the Lifetime ISA. We have also doubled the threshold for Stamp Duty and expanded First Time Buyers Relief.

Question

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the strength of the Union.

Felicity Buchan: The Union is strong. The United Kingdom is one of the world’s most successful political and economic unions. When we work together as one United Kingdom, we are safer, stronger and more prosperous.

Question

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to bring together islands from across the UK to discuss shared challenges.

Jacob Young: Islands are distinct and vital parts of the United Kingdom. The Islands Forum was established to empower island communities to communicate with government, inform future policy, and work together. I am delighted the fourth forum will be meeting on Ynys Môn next month and I’m looking forward to joining her there.

Question

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress his Department has made on delivering Levelling Up funding to local authorities.

Jacob Young: Across the three major Levelling Up funds, the Department has allocated £10.4 billion and released over £4 billion to local authorities.The Funds are multi-year programmes that local authorities will continue to spend over the lifetime of the Funds. As is typical with capital programmes, spending will peak in the later years.

Voting Rights: Refugees

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will undertake a review of the rules on voting eligibility to equalise voting rights between refugees from Commonwealth countries and those from other countries.

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of voting rights on the integration of refugees; and if he will publish any such assessment.

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he has taken to communicate information on voting rights to eligible commonwealth citizens resident in the United Kingdom.

Simon Hoare: The entitlement of resident Commonwealth citizens to vote reflects our close historical ties with Commonwealth countries. The right to reside, whether under refugee status or any other status, does not confer the right to participate in democratic processes in the UK.Accordingly, the Government has no plans to review such voting rights.

Business Rates: Tax Allowances

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many and what proportion of businesses that were eligible for business rates relief in the 2023-24 financial year are no longer eligible in the 2024-25 financial year.

Simon Hoare: The department does not hold the data required to answer this question. Information on the number of hereditaments eligible for business rates relief is available here.

Regional Planning and Development: Dorset

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much levelling up funding his Department has allocated to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council.

Jacob Young: BCP Council have received a variety of levelling up support since 2019, including through some specific awards such as:£20 million of Levelling Up Fund investment;£4.2 million in Core UK Shared Prosperity Funding and £1.7 million in Multiply for BCP investing in communities focused on building pride in place, supporting high quality skills training, employment and productivity growth, and increasing life chances;£1 million in Towns Accelerator Funding, designed to kick start local projects: driving growth and improving prospects for communities; and£21.7 million Town Deal for Bournemouth to regenerate the town and deliver long-term economic and productivity growth. This is through investments in urban regeneration, digital and physical connectivity, skills, heritage and enterprise infrastructure.

Radicalism

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what consultation his Department undertook with (a) faith groups (b) civil society and (c) local councils on the new definition of extremism; and whether the findings will be published.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the impact of the new definition of extremism on public bodies.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to ensure organisations listed under the new definition of extremism are (a) subject to an impartial review process and (b) able to appeal being listed under the new definition.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the counter-extremism centre of excellence will take to assess organisations under the new definition of extremism.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his oral statement on Extremism Definition and Community Engagement of 14 March 2024, Official Report, column 452, whether his Department informed the organisations referred to in that statement that they would be referred to in advance of making that statement.

Lee Rowley: Further to the Secretary of State’s oral statement on Extremism Definition and Community Engagement of 14 March 2024 (Official Report HC, Volume 747, Column 452), details of ministerial meetings and engagement are published on gov.uk. Further details relating to the Government’s work in this area, including in relation to naming individuals and organisations, will be set out in due course.

Private Rented Housing: Evictions

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many Section 21 notices have been issued in (a) Lancashire and (b) Preston in each of the last five years; and what steps his Department is taking to support tenants facing eviction under a Section 21 notice.

Jacob Young: I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN HL2677 on 6 March 2024. We are abolishing Section 21 evictions as part of the Renters (Reform) Bill.

Buildings: Safety

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the number of buildings requiring remediation for life-critical fire-safety defects that were approved by building control provided by (a) NHBC, (b) other private Approved Inspectors and (c) Local Authority Building Control.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the answers to Question 101 to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee on 21 September 2020 on Pre-legislative scrutiny of the Building Safety Bill on 21 September 2020, HC 466, what data his Department holds on the number of buildings where the NHBC validated the claims for major fire safety remediation works.

Lee Rowley: Data on Building Safety Remediation progress is published on gov.uk. The department does not hold data on the number of buildings requiring remediation for life-critical fire-safety defects that were approved by building control provided by NHBC, other private Approved Inspectors and Local Authority Building Control, or on the number of buildings where the NHBC validated the claims for major fire safety remediation works.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that risk assessors commissioned by participant developers in the self-remediation scheme are (a) independent and (b) not reliant on one developer for their entire income.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing developers participating in the self-remediation scheme with a list of firms from which the Cladding Safety Scheme will accept Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls assessments.

Lee Rowley: The developer remediation contract requires that relevant assessors are suitably experienced, qualified, independent and competent. The department also requires the developer and the assessor to sign statements confirming that they are separate financial entities, in line with guidance issued by authorities including RICS, the International Arbitration Board, the International Bar Association and ISO/IEC 17020:2012 Conformity assessment.The department does not recommend a list of assessors to developers. The British Standards Institution’s PAS 9980 standard and the developer remediation contract make clear that relevant assessors must meet the required standard, and the department regularly commissions independent audits of assessments obtained by developers to make sure that those standards have been met.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has issued guidance on liability for the costs of preparing a building safety case on cladding remediation requirements.

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has issued recent guidance on liability for the costs of preparing a building safety case on cladding remediation requirements.

Lee Rowley: As part of the new building safety regime, all those accountable for higher-risk buildings are required to assess and manage building safety risks for their building, and prepare a safety case report which will be submitted to the Building Safety Regulator. The Building Safety Regulator produced guidance on developing a safety case and on preparing a safety case report which can be found at: Preparing a building assessment certificate application - GOV.UK.

Sleeping Rough: Veterans

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of veterans sleeping rough on 28 March 2024.

Felicity Buchan: On 29 February 2024, we published management information which showed that over the month in December 2023, four people sleeping rough in England had left the UK armed forces within the last 85 days. This data is available at Ending Rough Sleeping Data Framework, December 2023 - GOV.UK.The next quarterly publication of monthly data up to March will be published in June 2024.

Housing Associations: Rents

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has had recent discussions with housing associations on taking steps to maintain low levels of rent.

Jacob Young: The Government regulates the maximum social housing rents that Registered Providers of social housing, including housing associations, can charge their tenants (subject to certain exceptions).Social housing rents are permitted to increase rents by up to CPI+1% per annum. Registered Providers of social housing are expected carefully to consider the effect on their tenants when making decisions about rent increases. The CPI+1% limit is a ceiling, and Government urges landlords to consider lower increases where possible.

Building Regulations: Fire Prevention

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2023 to Question 3014 on Building Regulations: Fire Prevention, what recent progress his Department has made on the property protection workstream.

Lee Rowley: The Technical Review of Approved Document B was published on 6 June 2022. Research on the property protection workstream has completed. Government will consider findings, then publish the research and an update on the workstream in due course.

Social Rented Housing: Repairs and Maintenance

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release, updated on 26 March 2024, for how many and what proportion of social housing buildings where works have (a) started and (b) completed, the source of remediation funding is (i) the Registered Provider, (ii) Government funding and (iii) developer funding.

Lee Rowley: The data we published in March identified 1,952 buildings in the social sector requiring cladding remediation. Of those, 204 buildings (10%) were reported to have completed works and 525 buildings (27%) were reported to have started works.Government has funded works in 144 social housing buildings through the Social Sector Cladding Remediation Fund (135 completed and nine underway), 167 buildings through the Building Safety Fund (50 completed and 56 underway), and 36 buildings in the recently launched Cladding Safety Scheme. Buildings may appear in more than one fund.

Housing: Sales

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to end gazundering.

Lee Rowley: The Government’s future legislative agenda will be set out in the usual way.

Buildings: Safety

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the average time taken for his Department to respond to leaseholder correspondence on building safety matters in 2023.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the average time taken for his Department to respond to leaseholder correspondence sent to the Under11mBuildings@LevellingUp.gov.uk email address in 2023.

Lee Rowley: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) places great importance on the effective and timely handling of correspondence. Although given the volume and complexity of some of the cases being received it does often take time to work through those cases.As per the Cabinet Office’s Guide to Handling Correspondence on GOV.UK, response times are measured against a 20-working day target deadline. We, therefore, do not collect data on the average length of time to respond to correspondence on specific policy issues.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many buildings with life-critical fire-safety defects are excluded from the developer self-remediation terms because a signatory to the developer contract is a joint venture partner who is entitled to less than 50% of the economic return from a building.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to clause 18.2(B) of the Developer self-remediation contract, published on 30 January 2023, what the maximum time permitted is for a developer to delay commencement of works while they use reasonable endeavours to recover costs from other joint venture partners.

Lee Rowley: No developer has provided the evidence required by the joint venture clause to show that they are less than 50% responsible for any of their listed buildings, so all developers are liable for 100% of the costs of remediating the relevant buildings. Developers are obligated to remediate buildings covered by the contract as soon as they are able.

Planning: Retail Trade

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to reclassify retail as legitimate employment land use as part of the Accelerated Planning Service Consultation.

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to reclassify retail as legitimate employment land use as part of the Accelerated Planning Service Consultation.

Lee Rowley: Our proposals for the Accelerated Planning Service do not include the reclassification of any land uses. The Accelerated Planning Service on which the Government is currently consulting is for planning applications for major commercial development which create 1,000 sqm or more of new or additional employment space as defined in planning legislation. This could include retail development. The consultation closes on 1 May 2024 and we will analyse responses and announce our decision in due course.

Islamophobia

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to appoint an independent adviser on tackling anti-Muslim hatred.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Hon Member to the oral answer given by my Hon Friend, the Member for Kensington, on 4 March 2024 (Official Report, HC Volume 746, Column 628).

Buildings: Safety

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of developers in the Responsible Actors Scheme complying with the Code of Practice for the remediation of residential buildings.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an audit programme to ensure compliance with the Code of Practice for the remediation of residential buildings.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making the Code of Practice for the remediation of residential buildings legally binding.

Lee Rowley: We have been clear that all remediation projects should comply with the Code. We will take appropriate action where there is a failure to comply, including legislating if necessary.

Question

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to tackle anti-democratic extremism.

Lee Rowley: On 14th March Government published its new definition of extremism, which identifies behaviour that seek to “to… undermine, overturn or replace the UK’s system of parliamentary democracy” as extremist.The Government is undergoing a formal process of identifying and naming extremists. Before elections, the Government stands up the election cell, which works with the Police and Home Office to monitor threats to our democratic systems or institutions.

Lord-Lieutenants

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his Department’s policy to reintroduce Lord Lieutenancies of the historic counties abolished upon the creation of Greater London in 1965.

Simon Hoare: The allocation of Lieutenancies to counties was set out in the 1997 Lieutenancies Act and there are currently no plans to amend it.The Government attaches great importance to the history and traditions of this country and recognises that the tapestry of our historic counties is one of the bonds that draws the nation together. Whilst the Government shares your enthusiasm for promoting historic counties, it has no plans for any legislation on historic counties.

Shared Housing

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of available shared houses that are affordable for people who are (i) under the age of 35 and (ii) in receipt of the lowers level of housing support.

Jacob Young: The information requested is not held centrally.

Council Tax: Eligibility

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether people registered as a proxy voter for someone who resides permanently abroad are eligible for single person discount on their council tax.

Simon Hoare: The legislation does not provide for proxy voting status to be taken into account when determining whether a single person discount should be applied to a council tax bill. The 25% single person discount applies where there is only one liable adult living in a property. Individual councils are responsible for determining whether the discount should be applied to a bill.

Parish and Town Councils: Council Tax

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the restraint of council tax precepts set by (a) town and (b) parish councils.

Simon Hoare: Precept levels are decided by individual town and parish councils and the Government has been clear that proposed increases should be well evidenced and justified. The Government expects the sector to take all available steps to mitigate the need for council tax increases and will take into account councils’ decisions when considering future action.

Holiday Accommodation: Planning Permission

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to require planning permission for properties rented out as short-term lets for more than 90 days per year; and if he will publish guidance on (a) how long properties should operate as short-term lets, (b) whether a minimum time limit will apply and (c) whether there will be any exemptions to these regulations.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what criteria local authorities will be required to use in decision-making processes for granting planning permissions for short-term lets; whether these criteria will include an assessment of the potential impact of a proposal on (a) local housing need and (b) the community; and whether his Department plans to issue guidance to councils on adapting criteria to the unique circumstances of their localities.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when property owners will need to comply with regulations requiring planning permission for short-term lets exceeding 90 days per year; and whether his Department plans to introduce interim measures in advance of that date.

Lee Rowley: We set out our intention to take action on the issue of short-term lets in the Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS264) published on 19 February 2024. As stated, further details of the planning changes, including the timeline for implementation, will be set out when the Government formally responds to the consultation on these proposals.

Department for Transport

Parking Offences: Fines

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans for councils to set their own charges for parking on single and double yellow lines.

Guy Opperman: The Department has no such plans.

Old Oak Common Station: Construction

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions officials in his Department have had with (a) Great Western Railway and (b) Network Rail on disruption to rail services to and from Wales during the construction of Old Oak Common Station.

Huw Merriman: The Department is working with Network Rail, HS2 Ltd, Transport for London and Great Western Railway (GWR) to minimise disruption to rail passengers during Old Oak Common construction. Some GWR services will be diverted to London Euston, providing GWR passengers access to a central London terminal with numerous onward travel connections. Passengers could alternatively use Ealing Broadway station, as they did successfully during the December 2023 engineering works.

Roads: Safety

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government supports local authorities in their provision of (a) lollipop men and women and (b) other road safety measures for children.

Guy Opperman: The provision of the school crossing patrol service is a matter for the local authority. Legislation gives local authorities the power to make arrangements for the patrolling of places where children cross roads, on their way to or from school, but does not impose a duty on them to do so.

A1: Repairs and Maintenance

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the A1 between Newark and Grantham is due to be resurfaced.

Guy Opperman: Whilst there are no currently planned schemes to resurface the A1 between Newark and Grantham, it is inspected on a weekly basis and appropriate action is taken to address any safety critical defects within 24 hours.

High Speed 2 Line: Manchester Airport

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the proposed HS2 station at Manchester Airport will be constructed according to the design set out in the High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill; and what the estimated cost of the construction is.

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the estimated cost is of the proposed Manchester Metrolink infrastructure in the High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill.

Huw Merriman: The government is seeking to adapt the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) only, removing scope south of the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, which was included only for HS2. A motion to formalise the point of truncation will be brought to the House and a supplementary environmental statement will be produced. As set out in the Network North Command paper, up to £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disagregated further.

Ports: Fees and Charges

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of variance in port charges on competitiveness of UK exports (a) in general and (b) where there are multiple consignments within one container.

Guy Opperman: No as no changes have been made by Government to charges for exports.

Railways: North of England

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the estimated cost is of the Northern Powerhouse core route between Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street stations.

Huw Merriman: As set out in the Network North Command paper, up to £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disaggregated further.Work on the NPR scheme between Liverpool and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, is currently at strategic scheme development stage. This work is being carried out in line with WMS of 25 March, which set out that Northern Powerhouse Rail will develop a route that is in favour of serving Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Airport and will use the previously proposed route between the parish of Millington and Rostherne and Manchester. A formal consultation on the remainder of the preferred route is expected to take place in due course.

Railways: Greater Manchester

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the cost of (a) lengthening the Manchester East tunnel by 259 metres and (b) other parts of the new gyratory road junction at J6 of the M56 at Q3 2019 prices; and whether those changes are planned to be implemented as part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail core route.

Huw Merriman: The government is seeking to adapt the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) only, removing scope south of the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, which was included only for HS2. A motion to formalise the point of truncation will be brought to the House and a supplementary environmental statement will be produced.   As set out in the Network North Command paper, £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disaggregated further.

Hayes Station

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of installing ticket barriers at Hayes railway station in the context of trends in fare evasion on the Mid-Kent line.

Huw Merriman: Southeastern is assessing the viability of installing ticket barriers at several of its stations including Hayes. Network Rail's Industry Revenue Generating Investment Fund allows the train operating companies to apply for funding for schemes that are financially positive and reduce the cost of rail to the public purse. Installing ticket barriers at Hayes is one of several potential schemes Southeastern is considering for an application to the fund later in the year. Applications will be assessed as part of a competitive process, therefore submitting a bid for a scheme is no guarantee of funding.

Road Traffic Control: Finance

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funds his Department has allocated to help improve local traffic movements in the last five years.

Guy Opperman: The Department has a number of funding streams which can help improve local traffic movements. These include the Integrated Transport Block, which can support small-scale local improvements, and the Highway Maintenance Block which helps deliver smoother roads. Details of the funding provided under each are available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/roads-funding-information-pack/roads-funding-information-pack. In addition, there are a number of wider Government funds such as the Levelling Up Fund, Active Travel Fund and Future High Streets all of which have supported improvements to local roads. As announced in the Plan for Drivers, the Department has provided £50 million to local authorities to upgrade traffic signals to help improve traffic flow. This includes £30 million to replace outdated equipment, and £20 million to reduce poor traffic light sequencing through innovative technology that responds to live traffic conditions. Details of the funding allocations are available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-signal-obsolescence-grant-and-green-light-fund-allocations”

Manchester Piccadilly Station

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Northern Powerhouse Rail will include a six-platform surface turnback station at Manchester Piccadilly; and what the estimated cost of that station is.

Huw Merriman: The government is seeking to adapt the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) only, removing scope south of the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, which was included only for HS2. A motion to formalise the point of truncation will be brought to the House and a supplementary environmental statement will be produced.   As set out in the Network North Command paper, £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disaggregated further.

Railways: North West

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish plans for the proposed (a) upgrade, (b) electrification and (c) provision for use by freight trains to access the Fiddlers Ferry line of the Warrington to Stockport line between Thelwall and Warrington Bank Quay; and how much budget has been allocated for that route.

Huw Merriman: Work on the NPR scheme between Liverpool and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne is currently at strategic scheme development stage. This work is being carried out in line with the favoured calling points set out in the WMS of 25 March, to include new platforms at Warrington Bank Quay. We are keen to understand Warrington Borough Council’s priorities and to ensure views on the priorities and any alternatives are understood.

Railways: North of England

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Arpley Chord will be used to connect the Northern Powerhouse Rail core route to the West Coast Mainline; and how much budget has been allocated to upgrade that line.

Huw Merriman: Work on the NPR scheme between Liverpool and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne is currently at strategic scheme development stage. This work is being carried out in line with the favoured calling points set out in the WMS of 25 March, to include new platforms at Warrington Bank Quay. We are keen to understand Warrington Borough Council’s priorities and to ensure views on the priorities and any alternatives are understood.

Driving Tests: Waiting Lists

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time between (a) requesting and (b) receiving a driving test slot is in (i) England, (ii) the South East and (iii) Portsmouth South constituency.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people in Portsmouth South constituency were waiting to be allocated a driving test slot as of 15 April 2024.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of car driving test slots in Portsmouth South constituency.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department (a) is taking steps to reduce the time taken for to receive a practical car driving test slot in Portsmouth South constituency and (b) plans to increase the number of slots for such tests in that area.

Guy Opperman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is to reduce car practical driving test waiting times, whilst upholding road safety standards. To increase the number of car practical driving test slots available, including in the Portsmouth South constituency, the DVSA deployed all eligible managers and administrative staff back on the front line to do driving tests from the beginning of October 2023 until the end of March 2024, which created over 145,000 additional test slots. Eligible managers and administrative staff will continue to spend a portion of their time conducting car tests in the coming months to help continue to reduce waiting times. To further increase the number of available test slots, including in the Portsmouth South constituency, it is conducting tests outside of regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from driving examiners. Since April 2021, measures put in place by the DVSA to reduce waiting times for its customers, together with the ongoing recruitment of driving examiners, is creating on average over 48,300 extra car test slots each month. The average waiting time in March 2024 for a car practical driving test in Great Britain was 17.1 weeks, and in the Portsmouth South constituency it was 22.4 weeks. To address the continued high demand for tests in the South, the DVSA is asking driving examiners from areas with lower waiting times to travel and test in centres with higher waiting times. This is in addition to recruiting over 160 driving examiners in the areas where waiting times are highest, including the Portsmouth South constituency. It is not possible to know the number of people waiting to be allocated a driving test slot. It is not possible to know the time between requesting (seeking) and receiving (booking) a driving test slot, or the time between requesting (booking) and receiving (taking) a driving test slot.

Speed Limits: Public Consultation

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department issues to local authorities on consultation with local residents before the introduction of 20 mph zones.

Guy Opperman: The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-local-speed-limits/setting-local-speed-limits. On setting 20mph speed limits and zones, it states ‘A comprehensive and early consultation of all those who may be affected by the introduction of a 20mph scheme is an essential part of the implementation process. This needs to include residents, all tiers of local government, the police and emergency services, public transport providers and any other relevant local groups (including, for example, groups representing pedestrians, cyclists, drivers or equestrians)’.Local authorities are expected to consider this best practice guidance; though the final decision is for the authority together with the police, who would carry out any enforcement activity.

Road Works: Broadband and Utilities

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his planned timetable is for undertaking additional trials of flexible permitting for works on roads by broadband and utility providers.

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of flexible permitting schemes for works on roads by broadband and utility providers on changes in the level of spending by local authorities.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Transport consulted in 2021 on a proposal to allow flexi permits for certain types of works and published a response in 2022 https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/street-manager-and-permit-scheme-changes. The proposal was not supported at the time on the basis of limited evidence that was presented in the impact assessment that accompanied the consultation. The Government committed to carry out trials to develop the design for flexi permits and to carry out further assessments. We are working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology who are funding the trials. Work has been underway since the end of 2023 and will continue until autumn 2024.

Parking

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will have discussions with the British Parking Association on the potential (a) merits of amending guidelines on the statutory minimum size of parking bays and (b) impact of increasing the size of parking bays on disabled people.

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraphs 8.1 to 8.5 of his Department's guidance entitled, Inclusive Mobility: A guide to best practice on access to pedestrian and transport infrastructure, published in December 2021, if he will publish updated guidance on the design of regular parking spaces to increase accessibility for disabled people who are not blue badge holders.

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a minimum size for car parking bays to accommodate larger vehicles.

Guy Opperman: My officials have ongoing discussions with the British Parking Association on a variety of issues. The Department has no current plans for increasing the minimum size for on-street car parking bays to accommodate larger vehicles.The minimum size of on-street parking bays is regulated through the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016. Local authorities may already provide larger bays if they wish.The design of off-street car park facilities is governed by Building Regulations which specify requirements in relation to accessibility, structural design and fire safety.

Roads: Litter

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason Highways England does not undertake audits of its contractors’ work for litter clearance.

Guy Opperman: Litter picking is an activity undertaken as part of National Highways’ cyclical maintenance programme by its maintenance and response contractors. To monitor and manage their performance, National Highways undertakes monthly performance reviews of each of their maintenance and response contractors. This is done through the Collaborative Performance Framework which includes a metric on sweeping and cleaning. Scores are reviewed and discussed with the supplier at a monthly performance review meeting where any areas of underperformance are addressed. Additionally, National Highways carry out annual audits of each contractor through Service Quality Reviews, as set out in their ‘perform quality audit’ process. These audits are undertaken by National Highways’ quality performance assurance teams and National Highways does not hesitate to take remedial action where required.

Railways: Greater Manchester

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much and what proportion of Government funding has been allocated to the construction of the Manchester Tunnel between Manchester Piccadilly station and the proposed HS2 Manchester Airport; and whether he plans to amend the specification to allow Northern Powerhouse Rail trains to operate.

Huw Merriman: The government is seeking to adapt the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) only, removing scope south of the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, which was included only for HS2. A motion to formalise the point of truncation will be brought to the House and a supplementary environmental statement will be produced. As set out in the Network North Command paper, up to £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disaggregated further.

Railways: North of England

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the junction between Phase 2b of HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail will be removed from the adapted Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme; and how much funding has been allocated to the construction of that junction.

Huw Merriman: The government is seeking to adapt the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) only, removing scope south of the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, which was included only for HS2. A motion to formalise the point of truncation will be brought to the House and a supplementary environmental statement will be produced.As set out in the Network North Command paper, up to £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and work on the NPR scheme between Liverpool and Millington, and Manchester Piccadilly and West Yorkshire is currently at strategic scheme development stage. This work is being carried out in line with WMS of 25 March, which set out that Northern Powerhouse Rail will develop a route that is in favour of serving Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Airport and will use the previously proposed route Millington and Manchester. A formal consultation on the remainder of the preferred route is expected to take place following this work.

Warrington Bank Quay Station

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, where will the new Warrington Bank Quay station be located; how many platforms that station will have; and what the Northern Powerhouse Rail budget is for that station.

Huw Merriman: Work on the NPR scheme between Liverpool and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne is currently at strategic scheme development stage. This work is being carried out in line with the favoured calling points set out in the WMS of 25 March, to include new platforms at Warrington Bank Quay. We are keen to understand Warrington Borough Council’s priorities and to ensure views on the priorities and any alternatives are understood.

Railways: North of England

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Ashley Satellite Infrastructure Maintenance Base – Rail is required for the Northern Powerhouse core route; and how much funding has been allocated for its construction.

Huw Merriman: The government is seeking to adapt the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) only, removing scope south of the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, which was included only for HS2. A motion to formalise the point of truncation will be brought to the House and a supplementary environmental statement will be produced. As set out in the Network North Command paper, £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disaggregated further.

Railways: West Yorkshire

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether feasibility work has been undertaken for the proposed tunnel to Marsden; and how much budget has been allocated to that tunnel.

Huw Merriman: Work on the NPR scheme between Manchester Piccadilly and West Yorkshire is currently at strategic scheme development stage. A formal consultation on the route is expected to take place in due course.

Railways: Liverpool

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what additional work his Department plans to carry out within (a) the Edge Hill Cutting, (b) the station throat and (c) to the platform arrangements to accommodate extra services to the southern approach to Liverpool Lime Street as proposed by Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2; and how much budget has been allocated to this element of Northern Powerhouse Rail at Q3 2019 prices.

Huw Merriman: Work on the NPR scheme between Liverpool and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, is currently at strategic scheme development stage. This work is being carried out in line with WMS of 25 March, which set out that Northern Powerhouse Rail will develop a route that is in favour of serving Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Airport and will use the previously proposed route between the parish of Millington and Rostherne and Manchester. A formal consultation on the remainder of the preferred route is expected to take place in due course.

Great Western Railway: Standards

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the service provided by Great Western Railway.

Huw Merriman: The Secretary of State and I regularly meet with Network Rail and Great Western Railway to discuss performance. With NR related delays reaching 71 per cent in December 2023, I have made it clear to the CEO of NR that they must address infrastructure issues that contribute to a high proportion of disruption. NR launched its £140 million Thames Valley Recovery Plan, focusing on improving infrastructure reliability over the next 18 months. I met with NR and GWR in Swindon last week to review progress and whilst we are seeing small improvements, there is a lot more work to be done.

Railways: North of England

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Ashley railhead is required for the Northern Powerhouse Rail core route; and how much funding has been allocated for that railhead.

Huw Merriman: The government is seeking to adapt the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) only, removing scope south of the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, which was included only for HS2. A motion to formalise the point of truncation will be brought to the House and a supplementary environmental statement will be produced. As set out in the Network North Command paper, £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disaggregated further.

Railways: North of England

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the (a) route and (b) preliminary design for Northern Powerhouse Rail west of the HS2 Junction at Hoo Green has been determined; and how much funding has been allocated to that route.

Huw Merriman: Work on the NPR scheme between Liverpool and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, is currently at strategic scheme development stage. This work is being carried out in line with WMS of 25 March, which set out that Northern Powerhouse Rail will develop a route that is in favour of serving Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Airport and will use the previously proposed route between the parish of Millington and Rostherne and Manchester. A formal consultation on the remainder of the preferred route is expected to take place in due course.

Railways: Warrington

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans Northern Powerhouse Rail has to upgrade the Fiddlers Ferry line; and how much budget has been allocated to that line.

Huw Merriman: Work on the NPR scheme between Liverpool and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, is currently at strategic scheme development stage. This work is being carried out in line with WMS of 25 March, which set out that Northern Powerhouse Rail will develop a route that is in favour of serving Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Airport and will use the previously proposed route between the parish of Millington and Rostherne and Manchester. A formal consultation on the remainder of the preferred route is expected to take place in due course.

Railways: North of England

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the estimated timescale is for the (a) completion and (b) opening of the (i) Northern Powerhouse Rail core route between Manchester and Liverpool and (ii) eastern tunnel section between Manchester and Marsden.

Huw Merriman: Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) will transform rail connectivity by providing faster and more frequent services between the North of England’s key economic centres. The government aims to complete Northern Powerhouse Rail by the mid-2040s.

Freight: Railways

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what percentage of cargo is transported by train in the UK.

Huw Merriman: In 2022, 7% of total freight moved in the UK was by rail - 81% was by road and 12% by water. Source: Transport Statistics Great Britain, table TSGB0401 Freight (TSGB04) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Transport: Infrastructure

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Director General of the Road Transport Group in his Department is responsible for co-ordinating Network North.

Huw Merriman: Directors General across the Department are responsible for looking at transport in an integrated way and from the perspective of the places and public they serve, with each Director General having cross-cutting responsibilities. The unit that provides a central co-ordinating function across the many projects and policy areas included within Network North reports to the Director General of the Road Transport Group.

Shipping: Carbon Emissions

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will (a) develop and (b) implement an updated net zero shipping strategy.

Guy Opperman: The Department is actively preparing to release a refreshed Clean Maritime Plan in Spring 2024.

Northwich Station: Access

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce the outcome of Northwich Station’s Access for All funding bid.

Huw Merriman: As part of our recent Network North announcement, the Government confirmed £350m will be made available to improve the accessibility of our train stations. We are assessing over 300 nominations for the next round of Access for All funding, including a nomination for Northwich railway station. If successful, the funding will create an obstacle free, accessible route from the station entrance to platforms. Successful nominations will be announced in due course.

Parking: Pedestrian Areas

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact of pavement parking on individuals that are visually impaired; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a ban on pavement parking.

Guy Opperman: The Department carried out a public consultation on possible solutions to the complex pavement parking problem and received over 15,000 responses. The Department has listened carefully to the concerns raised by Guide Dogs and other disability organisations, including via their consultation responses, and those views will help inform our subsequent policy decisions.

Blue Badge Scheme

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to reduce processing times for blue badge applications.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Transport sets the legislation that governs the Blue Badge scheme and provides guidance for local authorities who are solely responsible for administering the scheme, including issuing the badges. There are no timescales set for administering applications other than a suggested guideline that issuing authorities should aim to complete end to end applications within 12 weeks. 80% of citizens apply for a badge using the Blue Badge Digital Service (BBDS) operated by the Department for Transport. The Department has a programme of continuous improvement to the BBDS. Working closely with local authorities and citizen users as part of its National Disability Strategy commitments, the Department’s aim is to make online badge applications quicker and easier for both applicants and local authorities.

Renewable Fuels: Public Consultation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to support the use of renewable liquid fuels following the removal of renewable liquid fuel import tariffs from the US in February 2023.

Anthony Browne: The Government supports the use of renewable fuels in several ways. Regulations generate demand for them in the UK and provide a signal for future investments. The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) scheme continues to support renewable fuels, which are primarily deployed in road transport, and delivers a third of transport’s carbon savings under carbon budget 4. The Government will introduce a similar mandate scheme to drive the deployment of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in 2025. We also have a track record of supporting UK production of advanced renewable fuels through grant funding programmes. Most recently the Advanced Fuels Fund (AFF) has allocated over £135 million of capital funding to 13 projects to support the development of a UK SAF industry.

Aviation: Fuels

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has targets for the commercial use of sustainable aviation fuel.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to help support the development of (a) hydrotreating kerosene and (b) other cleaner aviation fuels.

Anthony Browne: In July 2022, Government confirmed that a SAF Mandate would be introduced in 2025 requiring at least 10% (around 1.5 billion litres) of jet fuel to be made from sustainable feedstocks by 2030.In the second SAF mandate consultation, it was proposed that increasing targets be set out in legislation from 2025-2040. The levels of these targets will be confirmed in a Government response to the consultation due to be published in Spring 2024.The SAF mandate will support SAF produced using a range of feedstocks and technologies including biofuels from waste materials via the hydrotreated ester fatty acids process.Our £135m Advanced Fuels Fund is supporting 13 different SAF projects reach commercial scale in the UK. These cover a range of technologies to drive innovation and diversity of supply. Once operational, these projects are expected to collectively produce over 700 kilo tonnes of SAF and reduce CO2 emissions by 2.7 million each year.In September 2023, the Government also committed to introduce a revenue certainty mechanism to support SAF production in the UK. The intention is that it will be industry funded. The mechanism will provide revenue certainty for SAF production, supporting investor confidence in UK SAF projects.

Transport: Forecasts

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department last (a) reviewed the evidence base underpinning its demand forecasts and (b) update its forecasts of travel demand across modes as set out in its Transport Analysis Guidance.

Anthony Browne: We review evidence underpinning our transport demand forecasts across modes regularly and publish forecasts every few years, consistent with the proportionate update process in the Transport Analysis Guidance. Projections of travel demand across modes were last published in 2022 which included, for the first time, a set of Common Analytical Scenarios to illustrate the impact of different plausible futures on demand. The projections are available online, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tempro-downloads. The Department will publish an update in due course.

Transport

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will have discussions with the Leader of the House on bringing forward a debate on the National Transport Strategy.

Anthony Browne: The scheduling of parliamentary business is not a matter for the Department for Transport.

Department for Transport: Labour Turnover

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff left his Department in each year since 2015.

Anthony Browne: The following table gives the number of leavers from the Department for Transport and the current Executive Agencies from 2014/15 to 2022/23. Data is from the published tables from the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES). Numbers are rounded to the nearest ten. 2014/152015/162016/172017/182018/192019/202020/212021/222022/239401,0801,2101,0201,0509807301,2801,650

Aviation: Fuels

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to section 158 of the Energy Act 2023, what his Department's timescale is for a public consultation on the options for designing and implementing a sustainable aviation fuel revenue certainty scheme.

Anthony Browne: The Government put forward a provision in the Energy Act that commits to publishing a consultation on the options for designing and implementing a revenue certainty scheme for sustainable aviation fuel within six months of the Act receiving Royal Assent, which happened on 26 October.

Cabinet Office

England Infected Blood Support Scheme

Tom Randall: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that the infected blood interim payment process for bereaved parents and children is (a) transparent and (b) efficient.

John Glen: On 17th April, the Government tabled amendments to the Victims and Prisoners Bill which include a statutory duty to make interim payments of £100,000 to estates of the deceased infected people who were registered with existing or former support schemes (where previous interim payments have not already been made to infected individuals or their bereaved partners). This is an important step forward to get substantial compensation into the hands of families of victims of infected blood.

Blood: Contamination

Karl McCartney: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his planned timeframe is for establishing the arms-length body that will manage the compensation payments stemming from the Infected Blood Inquiry.

John Glen: The Government has committed to update Parliament through an oral statement on next steps within 25 sitting days following the publication of the final report on 20 May, and it is our intention to make this statement as soon as possible. Additionally, we will bring forward amendments at Report Stage of the Victims and Prisoners Bill in the Other Place with the intention of speeding up the implementation of the Government’s response to the Infected Blood Inquiry.

Blood: Contamination

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how often he has discussions with the Infected Blood Inquiry on the implementation of compensation recommendations.

John Glen: I, and my predecessors in this role, have not had formal discussions with members of the Infected Blood Inquiry team, to protect the Inquiry’s independence from Government. The Government has committed to update Parliament through an oral statement on next steps within 25 sitting days following the publication of the Inquiry’s final report on 20 May, and it is our intention to make this statement as soon as possible.

Infected Blood Inquiry: Public Appointments

Karl McCartney: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who has been appointed to the Infected Blood Inquiry expert group.

John Glen: Professor Sir Jonathan Montgomery has been appointed as the chair of the expert group to advise on the Government’s response to the Infected Blood Inquiry’s recommendations on compensation. The names of the other members of the expert group have not been disclosed to safeguard the privacy and ability of experts to continue their frontline clinical roles whilst advising on Government policy.

Civil Servants

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) full time and (b) part time civil service personnel there were in each of the last five years.

John Glen: The number of civil servants working full time and part time in each year from 2019 to 2023 on the stated reference date were:  Reference dateFull-timePart-time2019/03/31344,050102,0202020/03/31350,790104,8502021/03/31392,140112,9402022/03/31409,040102,0602023/03/31418,170102,400  Figures are from the ONS public sector employment statistics publications. The total may differ slightly from other published figures due to rounding.

Census

Julian Knight: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of respondents to the 2021 Census responded (a) digitally and (b) by post.

Julian Knight: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data his Department holds on the number of people who did not respond to the 2021 Census; and what steps were taken by the Office for National Statistics for non-compliance.

John Glen: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.A response to the hon. Member’s Parliamentary Questions of 12.04.24 are attached. UKSA Letter (pdf, 92.0KB)

Life Expectancy: Wellingborough

Gen Kitchen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of life expectancy in Wellingborough constituency.

John Glen: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 12/04/2024 is attached. UKSA Letter (pdf, 125.5KB)

Economic Growth and Exports

Sir Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of (a) GDP growth and (b) the value of exports in each year since 1 February 2021.

John Glen: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 12/04/2024 is attached. UKSA Letter (pdf, 140.3KB)

Treasury

Holiday Accommodation: Taxation

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the abolition of the furnished holiday lettings tax regime on farms.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government recognises the important role that Furnished Holiday Lets (FHL), including those located on farms, have in the visitor economy. This measure does not penalise or prohibit the provision of FHLs and simply brings their tax treatment in line with other rentals. As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government keeps the taxation of property landlords under review and any decision on future changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.

Revenue and Customs: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full time equivalent staff were employed in HM Revenue and Customs Customer Compliance Group for each of the last ten years for which figures are available.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government has committed to ensuring HMRC has sufficient funding to maintain its compliance performance over time, while continuing to make efficiencies. Within Customer Compliance Group, staff are deployed across a wide range of compliance risks. Internally, these are usually grouped by customer segment, tax head or specific tax risk being worked. HMRC publishes information on the amounts spent on compliance by customer segment in our annual report and accounts at Tax by different customer groups – 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The information for 2023 to 24 will be available in 2024. HMRC does not release detailed breakdowns of this information for operational reasons.

Sanitary Products: VAT Zero Rating

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 16 May 2023 to question 183900 on Sanitary Products: VAT, what steps he has taken to review whether the zero-rating for VAT on period products is being passed on by retailers to women in the last 12 months.

Nigel Huddleston: The government monitors publicly available data to assess the extent to which reliefs are passed through after their introduction, and is keen to ensure that the savings achieved through tax reliefs reach the intended recipients. We have engaged with stakeholders over the last 12 months to ensure they commit to passing on the savings realised from the zero-rating of period products, including following the expansion of the relief to period underwear in January 2024.

Revenue and Customs: ICT

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, updated on 29 February 2024, when his Department first assessed each of the red-rated legacy IT systems in HM Revenue and Customs to be red-rated.

Nigel Huddleston: The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify ‘red-rated’ systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by next year (2025).It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific, red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within HMRC’s IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems are at risk and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities.

Treasury: Labour Turnover

Julian Knight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff left his Department in each year since 2015.

Gareth Davies: The number of staff who left HMT each year since 2015 is available via Civil Service statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Tax Collection

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HM Revenue and Customs has taken to improve tax compliance yield.

Nigel Huddleston: The UK tax gap is currently low and stable, falling from 7.5 per cent in 2005 to 2006 to 4.8 per cent in 2021 to 2022. In 2022 to 2023, compliance action from HMRC secured and protected £34 billion for public services that would otherwise have gone unpaid. 2023 to 2024 compliance yield figures indicate that they are on track to exceed last year’s performance. HMRC is making it easier for customers to get it right first time and hard to get wrong by investing in digital systems, simplifying policies and processes, and improving guidance and support to improve compliance. Since 2010, the Government has also introduced over 200 new measures to tackle many different forms of non-compliance. Most recently, at Spring Budget 2024, the government announced a new package of measures to tackle the tax gap, which will raise over £4.5 billion over the next five years.

Defibrillators: VAT

Patrick Grady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of removing VAT on defibrillators on their (a) affordability and (b) accessibility.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government maintains VAT reliefs to aid the purchase of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), including VAT relief on purchases made by local authorities and those made through voluntary contributions, where the AED is donated to eligible charities or the NHS. Otherwise, they attract the standard rate of VAT. The Government is currently inviting community organisations to bid for funding as part of a £1 million grant scheme that expands access to AEDs, particularly in public places where they are most needed. In addition, last year the Government committed to supplying state-funded schools in England with defibrillators to make sure there is a device in device in every school, with deliveries completed in June 2023. This means that every state-funded school in England, over 21,500 schools, now has access to an AED. The Government keeps all taxes under review.

Welfare Tax Credits

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimates his Department has made of the number of claimants who are receiving tax credits with savings above £16,000 that will no longer be entitled to Universal Credit.

Nigel Huddleston: No estimate has been made of the number of those receiving tax credits with savings above £16,000 that will no longer be entitled to Universal Credit. Tax credits recipients are not required to report savings in order to claim tax credits.

Blood: Contamination

Tom Randall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential long-term financial implications of implementing the full compensation scheme for infected blood victims.

Laura Trott: This was an appalling tragedy and my thoughts remain with all those affected. We understand the strength of feeling on this and the need for action and that is why the Government has accepted the moral case for compensation and acknowledged that justice needs to be delivered for the victims.The Government is working as quickly as possible to consider all the Infected Blood Inquiry’s recommendations with the thoroughness merited by this terrible injustice, to ensure that we are best placed to respond to the Inquiry’s final report once it is published in May.

Domestic Abuse: Charities

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide additional funding for charities that support women who are victims of domestic violence.

Laura Trott: Through the Safer Streets and Safety of Women at Night Funds, the Home Office has invested over £150 million to deliver interventions to tackle violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime. In 2023/24, the Ministry of Justice provided £21 million for community-based serious violence and domestic abuse services, and £38 million for Independent Sexual Violence Advisors and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors posts. In all, the Ministry of Justice is quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10. And at Autumn Statement 2023, the government announced £10 million of additional funding available in 2024/25 for projects that aim to understand the impacts of domestic abuse on the labour market, support victims of domestic abuse in the workplace or prevent victims experiencing further abuse.

Holiday Accommodation: Taxation

Sir Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish guidance on the tax regime for furnished holiday lets after April 2025.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government will publish draft legislation, explanatory notes, and a tax information and impacts note in due course. These will set out how the announced changes will apply in practice.

Nuclear Power: Taxation

Giles Watling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to include nuclear (a) power generation and (b) fuel manufacture as sustainable activities within the UK Green Taxonomy.

Bim Afolami: The Government has stated its intention to include nuclear in the UK Green Taxonomy, subject to consultation. This will incentivise private investment in this important technology alongside renewables and other sectors that are key to reaching our Net Zero goal. The Government expects to publish the consultation on the UK Green Taxonomy shortly.

Banks: Artificial Intelligence

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of artificial intelligence on banking.

Bim Afolami: The adoption and deployment of AI is increasingly prevalent in the financial sector and has the potential to significantly improve productivity, both for individual banks and at an aggregate level. The government is committed to supporting the digital sector and has invested more than £3.5 billion in AI since 2014.The government’s response to the AI White Paper consultation sets out how we are encouraging the safe use of AI across the economy by strengthening our global AI leadership (including by hosting the world’s first AI Safety Summit) and supporting the UK’s regulators to deliver on our pro-innovation framework.

House Insurance

Layla Moran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will have discussions with the Association of British Insurers on reducing insurance premiums for households.

Bim Afolami: Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors on an ongoing basis. Insurers make decisions about the terms on which they will offer cover following an assessment of the relevant risks. The Government does not intend to intervene in these commercial decisions as this could damage competition in the market. However, the Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly. The Financial Conduct Authority requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive). The FCA has been clear that it will be monitoring firms to ensure they are providing products that are fair value, and, where necessary, it will take action.

Individual Savings Accounts

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to increase the Lifetime ISA cap.

Bim Afolami: The Government keeps all aspects of the savings tax regime, including the merits of increasing the LISA property value limit, under review.

Shares: Stamp Duties

Alun Cairns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department plans to respond to the consultation entitled Stamp Taxes on Shares modernisation, published on 27 April 2023.

Bim Afolami: HM Revenue and Customs issued the consultation in question and is currently working on the summary of responses, which will be published in due course.

Cash Dispensing: Suffolk

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of cash withdrawal facilities in Suffolk.

Bim Afolami: The government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including by those in vulnerable groups. The government legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to establish a new legislative framework to protect access to cash. This establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash and provides it with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities, on both a national and local basis. The FCA expects to finalise its regulatory rules in the third quarter of this year. The most recent analysis undertaken by the FCA on cash access coverage across the UK found that in Q1 2023, over 99% of people in urban areas are within 1 mile of a cash access point offering withdrawals, and over 98% of people in rural areas are within 3 miles of a cash access point offering withdrawals. Further details of this analysis, including a breakdown of cash access coverage by Local Authority District is available on the FCA website: Access to cash coverage in the UK 2023 Q1

Mortgages: Misrepresentation

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2024 to Question 15211 on Mortgages: Misrepresentation, what redress is available to people missold shared appreciation mortgages not covered by Financial Ombudsman Service rules.

Bim Afolami: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent of Government, has responsibility for the conduct regulation of shared appreciation mortgages. The FCA sets the rules regarding the information that must be disclosed before, during and after sale of mortgages and, in addition, the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Products like shared appreciation mortgages have been regulated since 2004 when wider mortgage regulations were first introduced, however a consumer’s right to pursue redress through legal channels is unaffected by the jurisdiction of the FOS. Anyone considering this option should consider seeking independent legal advice.

Foreign Investment in UK

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of potential trends in the level of inward investment due to British companies re-shoring their manufacturing in the next 12 months.

Gareth Davies: The UK maintains its strong position on attracting greenfield FDI, leading in Europe and third only to the US and China globally. EY’s 2023 FDI survey reported 65% of respondents planning to invest in the UK in the following 12 months, a record high. A specific assessment around re-shoring cannot be made. The available data concerning inward investment does not distinguish reshoring from other forms of domestic investment.

Tax Collection

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many enquires were initiated by HM Revenue and Customs Customer Compliance Group in each of the last ten years for which figures are available.

Nigel Huddleston: Compliance checks form one element of HMRC’s broader compliance approach which is increasingly focused on making it easier for customers to get their tax right first time and hard to get it wrong, by investing in its digital systems, simplifying its policies and processes, and improving guidance and support to improve compliance. The number of compliance checks opened is only one indicator of compliance performance in any year and is not a reliable indicator of compliance activity undertaken or compliance performance when viewed in isolation. The number of compliance checks opened was not routinely reported prior to 2019-20. From 2020 to 2021, all numbers have been published in the HMRC quarterly performance update here. Compliance checks may span many years and may range from light-touch single risk checks to complex, multiple risk compliance checks. A compliance check is opened when a risk is opened in a given tax year for a given tax regime. The number of compliance checks opened and closed by HMRC compliance staff each year will be determined by the risk landscape, its strategic priorities and ministerial commitments.

Landlords: Income Tax

Sir Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the report entitled Property income review: simplifying income tax for residential landlords, published by the Office for Tax Simplification on 25 October 2022, if he will take steps to introduce legislative proposals for a brightline test to clarify when property letting activities subject to income tax would qualify as a trade.

Nigel Huddleston: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 21 March 2024 to question UIN 18911.

Business Rates

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the threshold for business rates relief in line with inflation.

Nigel Huddleston: Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) is available to businesses with a single property below a set rateable value. At Autumn Statement 2023, the government announced a package of changes and tax cuts worth £4.3 billion, including a freeze to the small business multiplier for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, protecting over a million ratepayers from a multiplier increase.

Taxis: VAT

Ben Bradley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of seeking views on the potential impact of different VAT rates for private hire vehicle operators on market competition as part of its planned consultation on the impacts of the July 2023 High Court ruling in Uber Britannia Ltd v Sefton MBC.

Ben Bradley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of a 20% rate of VAT on private hire vehicle journeys on revenue generated for HM Treasury.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government has published a consultation on the potential impacts of this court judgment on the PHV sector and its passengers. This consultation explores range of potential options to help mitigate any potential adverse effects that the court judgment could have on PHVOs, drivers, and passengers.

Agriculture: Business Rates

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including agricultural contractors' buildings in the list of buildings exempted from business rates.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will add agricultural contractors' buildings to the list of buildings exempted from business rates.

Nigel Huddleston: Farmland and buildings solely used for agriculture are exempt from business rates. The Government keeps all taxes under review. Any future decisions regarding the tax system will be taken in line with the normal Budget process.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Broadcasting Programmes: Visual Impairment

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had discussions with the BBC Board on the decision to cut Radio 4’s In Touch show from 20 to 15 minutes.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the BBC’s decision to cut Radio 4’s In Touch show from 20 to 15 minutes on accessibility.

Julia Lopez: Ministers at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly meet the BBC’s leadership to discuss a range of issues.The BBC’s Royal Charter and Framework Agreement sets out what the BBC is required to deliver. The BBC has a range of obligations to ensure its services are accessible. The BBC is obliged to provide output and services which meet the needs of the United Kingdom’s nations, regions and communities, reflects the diversity of the United Kingdom; to observe guidance within Ofcom’s TV Access Services Code in relation to the provision of access services; and in adhering to regulatory conditions set by Ofcom in the BBC’s Operating Licence, to publish in Annual Report, how it has reflected, represented and served the diverse communities of the whole of the United Kingdom, including with regards to disability.In meeting these obligations, the BBC is operationally and editorially independent, and BBC programming decisions are a matter for the BBC, not for the Government.As the BBC’s independent regulator, Ofcom is responsible for holding the BBC to account on these regulatory obligations.

Film and Television: Finance

Andy Carter: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many grants were made to film and TV production companies through the (a) Global Screen Fund, (b) Film and TV Production Restart Scheme, (c) Creative industries: Sector Deal and (d) Creative Industries Sector Vision since 2010; and what the total value was of these grants.

Julia Lopez: The Government is committed to the continued success of the Film and TV sectors and we have a consistent track record of supporting them. Funding from DCMS has, and continues to, provide critical support to production companies across the UK:The £21 million UK Global Screen Fund was introduced in 2021. Since inception it has supported 179 awards totalling £13.91 million. You can find out more about the awards made and the pilot year evaluation via: https://www.bfi.org.uk/get-funding-support/funding-support-international-activity/uk-global-screen-fundThe £500 million Film and TV Production Restart Scheme was established in 2020. It did not provide grant funding, but allowed 1,259 productions to purchase indemnity cover during the pandemic. Claims for compensation are currently being processed and are expected to total £49.5m, with 348 claims paid at September 2023. You can find out more about the scheme through the impact evaluation which was published in April 2023 via: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/film-and-tv-production-restart-scheme-impact-evaluationThe Creative Industries Sector Deal and the Creative Industries Sector Vision covered a wide range of schemes including the measures mentioned above. It is not possible to provide figures on the number of production companies supported and total value of grants provided across all these measures. However, there are ongoing evaluations for individual programmes which we would encourage you to look at where available.

National Lottery Heritage Fund

Dr James Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the (a) value of grants made and (b) number of recipients was of the (i) National Lottery Heritage Fund’s grant programme and (ii) Heritage Emergency Fund in (A) the UK and (B) Wales since 2010.

Julia Lopez: In total, through all Lottery-funded programmes since 2010, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded a total of £3,923,036,950 to recipients across the UK.In 2010–11 it awarded £232,460,500 in support of 874 projects.In 2011–12 it awarded £308,388,050 in support of 1,014 projects.In 2012–13, it awarded £481,068,595 in support of 1,635 projects.In 2013–14 it awarded £481,141,451 in support of 1,950 projects.In 2014–15 it awarded £381,913,300 in support of 1,781 projects.In 2015–16 it awarded £385,006,116 in support of 1,508 projects.In 2016–17 it awarded £402,952,596 in support of 1,768 projects.In 2017–18 it awarded £280,216,875 in support of 1,487 projects.In 2018–19 it awarded £198,815,633 in support of 1,661 projects.In 2019–20 it awarded £214,813,858 in support of 1,025 projects.In 2020–21 it awarded £60,667,985 in support of 1,091 projects.In 2021–22 it awarded £213,334,981 in support of 745 projects.In 2022–23 it awarded £138,993,966 in support of 948 projects.In 2023–24 it awarded £143,263,044 in support of 1,231 projects.In the financial year 2020–21, The National Lottery Heritage Fund made 956 awards across the UK, totalling £49,988,885, through the Heritage Emergency Fund, part of a package of support provided to the heritage sector as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.In total, since 2010, the National Lottery Heritage Fund awards across all Lottery funded programmes has awarded a total of £221,956,000 to recipients in Wales.From 2010– 2011 £18,068,300 was awarded in support of 48 projects.From 2011 - 2012, £9,810,550 was awarded in support of 54 projects.From 2012 - 2013, £14,331,850 was awarded in support of 82 projects.From 2013 - 2014, £18,988,722 was awarded in support of 111 projects. From 2014 - 2015, £23,396,600 was awarded in support of 108 projects.From 2015 - 2016, £19,002,500 was awarded in support of 94 projects.From 2016 - 2017, £25,798,523 was awarded in support of 108 projects.From 2017 - 2018, £29,915,543 was awarded in support of 96 projects.From 2018 - 2019, £20,653,738 was awarded in support of 102 projects.From 2019 - 2020, £11,302,200 was awarded in support of 68 projects.From 2020 - 2021, £3,650,000 was awarded in support of 63 projects.From 2021 - 2022, £9,795,913 was awarded in support of 40 projects.From 2022 - 2023, £7,558,132 awarded in support of 62 projects.From 2023 - 2024, £9,683,429 was awarded in support of 86 projects.In the financial year 2020–21, The National Lottery Heritage Fund made 53 awards in Wales, totalling £2,744,200, through the Heritage Emergency Fund, part of a package of support provided to the heritage sector as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Television Licences: Fees and Charges

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the affordability of the BBC licence fee for people on lower incomes; and if she will make an assessment of the potential steps she can take to increase the affordability of the licence fee for those people.

Julia Lopez: Having considered the cost of living pressures faced by households, the Government decided to change how the inflation-linked uplifts to the licence fee are calculated for 2024. The decision was made to ensure the additional cost to licence fee payers is kept as low as possible while giving the BBC over £3.7 billion in annual licence fee funding to spend on world leading content and deliver on its mission as set out in the Charter.More broadly, the government believes that there are challenges around the sustainability of the current licence fee funding model, and is therefore conducting a review of the BBC’s funding model.The Review is assessing a range of options for funding the BBC. It is looking at how alternative models could help secure the broadcaster’s long-term sustainability amid an evolving media landscape, increased competition and changing audience behaviour, while reducing the burden on licence fee payers.

Leisure Centres and Swimming Pools: East Midlands

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many grants her Department has made to (a) leisure centres and (b) swimming pools in (i) Lincolnshire and (ii) the East Midlands since 2010; and what the total value was of those grants.

Stuart Andrew: The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to swimming pools, as swimming is a core life skill and a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing access to leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level, and the Government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support swimming facilities.In 2023/24, the Government provided over £60 million to Local Authorities in additional funding to support operating costs and help improve energy efficiency of facilities through the Swimming Pool Support Fund, delivered via Sport England. In total, the Swimming Pool Support Fund (£60 million Exchequer, £20 million of Sport England National Lottery funding) will fund 442 individual facilities and 788 individual pools across 269 Local Authorities by March 2025.As part of the Swimming Pool Support Fund:Over £3 million has been awarded to 11 individual facilities (21 individual pools) across 7 Local Authorities in Lincolnshire. Included in the £3 million awarded across Lincolnshire are two facilities that received Sport England National Lottery funding - Wragby Swimming Pool and Jubilee Park Woodhall Spa LTD.Over £9.5 million has been awarded to 47 individual facilities (84 individual pools) across 33 Local Authorities in the East Midlands region by March 2025.Further details of local authorities and swimming pools/leisure centres awarded funding from Phase I and Phase II of the Swimming Pool Support Fund are available on Sport England’s website at:https://www.sportengland.org/news/swimming-pool-support-fund-keeps-leisure-centres-afloathttps://www.sportengland.org/news-and-inspiration/swimming-pool-support-fund-helps-facilities-prepare-futureWe provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England - which receives £323 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. Sport England publishes data on all grant recipients as part of its register of grants awards, which is updated on a quarterly basis with awards dating back to 2009. Between 2009 - 2023, in addition to the Swimming Pool Support Fund, Sport England provided over £2.1 million of funding to Lincolnshire and over £15 million to the East Midlands to support leisure centres and swimming pools. Across the East Midlands, just over £7 million of this is related to the Sport England Covid-19 Leisure Recovery Fund. There is more detail on Sport England’s website at: https://www.sportengland.org/about-us.

Football

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the average age of attendees at Premier League football matches in the 2022-23 season.

Stuart Andrew: The Premier League does not publish data on the average age of spectators, and the government does not intend to make an assessment of this figure at the current time.

Youth Centres

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many youth centres have been in operation each year since 2010.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of young people that had access to a youth centre within five miles of their home in (a) 2010, (b) 2015 and (c) 2024.

Stuart Andrew: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not hold the data requested.

Public Statues: Trafalgar Square

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Mayor of London on the designs for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.

Julia Lopez: HM Government has had no discussions with the Mayor of London on the designs for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the (a) value of grants made and (b) number of recipients of funding was from the National Citizen Service in (i) Hampshire and (ii) the UK was since 2010.

Stuart Andrew: Following Covid-19 and a strategic review, in 2023 the NCS Trust launched a new delivery model for the NCS programme. The new programme consists of residential, community and digital experiences. NCS Trust provides grant-funding to local organisations across England to deliver these community experiences.From 2023/24 the NCS Trust began issuing grants. The total spend on grant-funding so far is £21.7m with a total of 94 organisations in receipt of grant-funding across England. Three organisations operating within Hampshire have received grant-funding, namely Unloc, Oasis and Personal Best Education. These organisations have received £267,461 for the operation of their community experiences in Hampshire.

BBC: Finance

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what criteria she applied in the selection of members for the BBC funding model review panel.

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has required specific (a) competencies and (b) experience from applicants to the BBC funding model review panel.

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she has taken to ensure a transparent selection process for the BBC funding model review panel.

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she has taken to publicly advertise opportunities to apply for membership on the BBC funding model review panel.

Julia Lopez: The BBC Funding Review is looking at how alternative funding models could help secure the broadcaster’s long-term sustainability amid an evolving media landscape, increased competition and changing audience behaviour, while reducing the burden on licence fee payers. It is a government-led review, supported by an expert panel that incorporates a broad range of views from across the sector, providing advice and external challenge on the issues set out in the review’s Terms of Reference, which are available on gov.uk..The Panel does not have any decision making powers, and is one aspect of the Government’s BBC Funding Model Review.The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport appointed Panel members based on their expertise across relevant sectors, including television, radio, news and international relations. The experts were selected in consultation with industry stakeholders based on their experience and knowledge of wide ranging issues at the heart of the UK media sector such as the role of Public Service Broadcasters, press sustainability and content for children and young adults. Panel membership is voluntary. The Expert Panel has no legal status and was therefore not set up under the Cabinet Office guidelines for public appointments.

Sports

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to support (a) Australian rules football, (b) ice hockey and (c) surfing.

Stuart Andrew: Supporting grassroots sport is a key government priority and we are committed to ensuring everyone, no matter their age, background or ability, should be able to play sport and be active. In our sport strategy ‘Get Active’ we set out our unapologetic ambition to build a more active nation, with a target to get 3.5 million more people classed as ‘active’ by 2030.The Government provides support for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England - which receives £323 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year.Since 2019 Sport England has provided the following support:Australian rules football- £100,020Ice hockey- £2,060,816Surfing- £1,362,561Sport England also provides support for grassroots sport through a range of available funds, including the Small Grants Programme and the Active Together Fund. Further information on these funds and eligibility criteria can be found here.

Sports Competitors: Transgender People

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with sports governing bodies on banning transgender athletes participating in women’s sporting competitions.

Stuart Andrew: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport recently hosted a roundtable with a group of national governing bodies to stress the Government’s position that competitive fairness and safety for women and girls cannot come at the expense of the inclusion of transgender athletes, and to understand how various governing bodies have developed their policies on this issue.We will continue to engage with sports on this issue to understand what work national governing bodies are doing to protect women’s sport.

Sports: Facilities

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding per person has been allocated to (a) Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency and (b) all other constituencies under the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.

Stuart Andrew: The Government is committed to delivering top class sports facilities across the country, so that everyone can take part in sport and physical activity. As part of this commitment, the Government is delivering an historic level of direct investment to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots sport facilities across the UK.The Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme is investing over £325 million between 2021 and 2025 to level up facilities across the whole of the UK. It is a rolling programme and potential applicants can discuss an application with the Foundation at any time. Their website sets out the different grants available.In regards to Ellesmere Port and Neston, £1,440 has been invested into the constituency since 2021 (£0.02p per capita based on the constituency total population data on House of Commons Library). £1,440 was awarded to Groves F.C for new goal posts in 2022-2023.Constituencies across the UK have received a share of the funding delivered so far, delivering real change in communities UK-wide. Sites that have already benefited from the funding, including Groves FC, are listed on gov.uk at the link below, and can be used to calculate the investment per capita for all other UK constituencies, with further projects due to be announced later this year.https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/multi-sport-grassroots-facilities-programme-projects-2021-to-2025

Youth Services: Finance

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the (a) value of grants made and (b) number of recipients of funding was from the Million Hours Fund since 2010.

Stuart Andrew: The Million Hours Fund is investing £22 million in youth organisations across England to enable them to deliver additional hours of positive activities for young people in areas with higher levels of anti-social behaviour.The Department for Culture, Media and Sport launched the Million Hours Fund in 2023, alongside The National Lottery Community Fund (TNCLF), who have provided match funding and are also delivering the Fund. The Fund is split into two delivery phases: Phase 1 was delivered during the summer of 2023 and Phase 2 awards are currently being finalised, with delivery planned until March 2026.The value of grants awarded under Phase 1 is £3,776,551 and 430 organisations received funding. These figures are correct as of 16/04/2024. More details on the value and number of organisations receiving awards under Phase 2 will be announced in due course.

British Youth Council: Closures

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department took steps to help prevent the closure of the British Youth Council.

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to take steps to help maintain youth representation at the local authority level in the context of the closure of the British Youth Council.

Stuart Andrew: I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council (BYC). Over its 75 year legacy, the BYC supported thousands of young people to become politically engaged and create positive change both in their local communities and internationally. DCMS was informed of the significant financial challenges faced by the BYC at the end of February 2024. The scale of these challenges unfortunately meant that DCMS could not provide emergency funding as this would not meet the key standards of Managing Public Money.The Government is absolutely committed to the UK Youth Parliament and to ensuring that it continues to both represent and amplify the voices of young people. We have been working with UK Youth Parliament delivery partners from English regions and the devolved administrations, to understand the implications of the BYC’s closure. We have been working at pace to identify a suitable organisation which can hold overall grant management responsibility for the UKYP 24/25, and will update the house as soon as next steps have been formalised. We are also exploring how best to maintain and develop representation at the local authority level.

Leisure Centres and Swimming Pools: Finance

Andy Carter: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many direct grants her Department has made to support (a) swimming pools and (b) leisure centres since 2010; and what the total value was of those grants.

Stuart Andrew: The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to swimming pools, as swimming is a core life skill and a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing access to leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level, and the Government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support swimming facilities.In 2023/24, the Government provided over £60 million in additional funding to support operating costs and help improve energy efficiency of facilities through the Swimming Pool Support Fund, delivered via Sport England. In total, the Swimming Pool Support Fund will fund 442 individual facilities and 788 individual pools across 269 Local Authorities by March 2025. Further details can be found on Sport England’s website at:https://www.sportengland.org/news/swimming-pool-support-fund-keeps-leisure-centres-afloathttps://www.sportengland.org/news-and-inspiration/swimming-pool-support-fund-helps-facilities-prepare-futureWe provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England - which receives £323 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. Between 2010 - 2023, before the SPSF, Sport England provided over £98 million of support to more than 500 programmes to facilitate participation in grassroots swimming up and down the country. Sport England publishes data on all grant recipients as part of its register of grants awards, which is updated on a quarterly basis with awards dating back to 2009. Please find the information on Sport England’s website at:https://www.sportengland.org/about-us

Voluntary Organisations: Finance

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the (a) value of grants made and (b) number of recipients of funding from the Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund was in (i) the UK and (ii) Hampshire.

Stuart Andrew: The Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund (CCLF) was a £76 million fund for critical frontline services helping low-income households in England through last winter. It was announced at the Spring Budget 2023 as part of the £101.5 million to support VCSE organisations struggling with cost of living pressures.Details of the first 865 grants awarded through CCLF have been published on gov.uk and details of all remaining grants awarded will be announced later this summer. As of 4th December 2023, 16 organisations in Hampshire have been awarded a total of £742,433.86.

Civil Society: Energy

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the (a) value of grants made and (b) number of recipients of funding from the VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme was in (i) the UK and (ii) Hampshire since 2010.

Stuart Andrew: The VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme (EES) is a £25.5 million fund to support voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations across England to save money on energy bills. It was announced at the Spring Budget 2023 as part of the £101.5 million to support VCSE organisations struggling with cost of living pressures.The scheme has two components:Independent Energy Assessment (IEA): This involves an independent energy assessor helping organisations identify energy-saving opportunities. This component opened for applications on 7 December 2023, and hundreds of IEAs have already been delivered to VCSEs across England. Hundreds more will be delivered over the coming months.Capital Grants: Grants can be used to install capital energy efficiency measures, such as improving insulation or installing new heating and lighting systems. The first grant round for this component was open between 18 January and 28 February 2024, and the first round of awards will be made very soon. All funds for capital measures must be spent by the end of March 2025.As both components of the fund are still being delivered, details of the grants distributed (including award amounts and locations of the beneficiaries) are yet to be announced, but will be in due course.

Gambling: Taxation

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s consultation on the statutory levy on gambling operators, which closed on 14 December 2023, how many responses to the consultation were received in total; and what proportion of those responses were from the gambling industry.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her planned timetable is for publishing the outcome of her Department's consultation on the statutory levy on gambling operators, which closed on 14 December 2023.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of providing interventions in the criminal justice system for offenders harmed by gambling; and whether these costs are being considered in the development of proposals for the statutory levy on gambling operators.

Stuart Andrew: The introduction of a statutory levy on gambling operators will represent a generational change to funding arrangements and a renewed commitment to improving efforts to further understand, tackle and treat harmful gambling. We want to see levy funding directed where it is needed most across research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. As set out in our public consultation, the prevention stream could see investment directed for projects to build capacity and expertise in frontline settings to increase responsiveness to gambling harm, including criminal justice settings.We are now closely considering all evidence received to best guide the implementation of the statutory levy in an effective, fair and proportionate way. We will publish a response to the consultation setting out our final decisions soon. This will also include a full list of organisations who agreed to attribute their response to their organisation.

Football: Disadvantaged

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help increase access to grassroots football in deprived areas.

Stuart Andrew: The Government is committed to delivering top class sports facilities across the country, so that everyone can take part in sport and physical activity. As part of this commitment, the Government is delivering an historic level of direct investment to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots sport facilities across the UK.Between 2021 and 2025, the UK Government is delivering investment of over £400 million to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots facilities across the UK. The largest component of this funding is the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which is investing over £320 million between 2021 and 2025 into football and multi-sport pitches, changing rooms and other ancillary facilities. Through this programme over £56,000 has been awarded to Northumberland County Council to improve grass pitches on Morpeth Common.Central to this investment is a clear objective to level up access for under-represented groups through investment in deprived areas and an emphasis on equal access. 50% of funding will go to the 40% most deprived local authority areas, based on a combined inactivity and deprivation ranking.All projects are assessed against their ability to deliver increased participation by under-represented groups - including women and girls, ethnic minority communities and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. All projects can be viewed here on gov.uk.In addition to facilities funding, in November 2023 Sport England announced £250 million of funding that will provide a major expansion of their investment into local communities across England to ensure those in greatest need are able to be physically active.

Gambling

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that gambling firms support problem gamblers (a) to stop gambling and (b) into recovery.

Stuart Andrew: The Gambling White Paper set out a balanced and proportionate set of proposals to protect those at risk of experiencing gambling harm.There are already a range of obligations on gambling operators to identify and prevent gambling-related harm, which can include signposting to sources of specialist support from organisations who deal with advice and treatment for harmful gambling. Following the white paper, we are introducing a range of new, proportionate controls to further protect vulnerable people from the practices and products which can drive harm. These include new light-touch, frictionless financial risk checks, a stake limit for online slots games, improvements to customer-led tools, and tougher restrictions on bonuses and direct marketing. These measures will be complemented by strengthened messaging about the risks associated with gambling. We are also introducing a new statutory levy paid by operators to fund research, prevention, and treatment of gambling-related harms so that people can access the right help when and where they need it.We are working with the Gambling Commission and other stakeholders to bring these measures into force as quickly as possible, and have already held consultations on a number of important proposals so we can finalise details ahead of implementation.

Swimming Pools: Finance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which leisure centres have been recipients of the funding under the Swimming Pool Support Fund.

Stuart Andrew: The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to swimming pools, as swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing access to leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level, and the Government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support swimming facilities.In 2023/24, the Government provided over £60 million in additional funding to support operating costs and help improve energy efficiency of facilities through the Swimming Pool Support Fund, delivered via Sport England. In total, the Swimming Pool Support Fund (£60 million exchequer, £20 million of Sport England National Lottery funding) will fund 442 individual facilities and 788 individual pools across 269 Local Authorities by March 2025.Further details of local authorities and swimming pools/leisure centres awarded funding from Phase I and Phase II of the Swimming Pool Support Fund are available on Sport England’s website at:https://www.sportengland.org/news/swimming-pool-support-fund-keeps-leisure-centres-afloathttps://www.sportengland.org/news-and-inspiration/swimming-pool-support-fund-helps-facilities-prepare-future

Tennis: Facilities

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which tennis courts have been selected for improvement under the Park Tennis Court Renovation Programme.

Stuart Andrew: As part of the Park Tennis Court Programme, the UK Government and Lawn Tennis Association are investing £30 million pounds between 2022-2024 to deliver improvements to up to 3,000 park tennis courts across Great Britain. The renovation works include the installation of digital access gates, re-surfacing, and re-painting - all of which aim to improve access and increase participation in tennis, whilst prioritising the courts in the most deprived communities.Since the start of the programme, over £70k has been invested in Cheshire, with 14 tennis courts across five parks renovated directly as a result of investment from the Programme.Further details of the completed projects for the Park Tennis Court Programme can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/park-tennis-court-programme-completed-projects. We will confirm details of further sites receiving funding later in the year.

Tennis: Facilities

Dr James Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many grants have been made through the Park Tennis Court Programme in (a) Wales and (b) the UK since 2010.

Stuart Andrew: As part of the Park Tennis Court Programme, the UK Government and Lawn Tennis Association are investing £30 million between 2022-2024 to deliver improvements to up to 3,000 park tennis courts across Great Britain. The renovation works include the installation of digital access gates, re-surfacing, and re-painting - all of which aim to improve access and increase participation in tennis, whilst prioritising the courts in the most deprived communities.Since the start of the programme, over £800,000 has been invested in Wales with 89 tennis courts across 36 parks renovated directly as a result of investment from the Programme. A further £1.2 million will be invested in park tennis courts across Wales before autumn 2024, meaning in total the programme is forecast to invest £2 million renovating 178 courts across 65 parks in Wales. Completed tennis courts are listed on gov.uk here:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/park-tennis-court-programme-completed-projectsMore broadly, sport is a devolved matter and therefore support for grassroots sport and physical activity in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is generally the responsibility of the respective Home Nations Sports Councils and devolved governments. In England, we provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England - which receives £323 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. Prior to the Park Tennis Court Programme, from 2010 - 2022, Sport England provided over £59 million of support to programmes to facilitate participation in grassroots tennis in England. Sport England publishes data on all grant recipients as part of its register of grants awards, which is updated on a quarterly basis with awards dating back to 2009. Please find the information here,

Sports: Concussion

Damian Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2024 to Question 18418 on Sports: Concussion, who the members of the Sports Concussions Research Forum are; and what terms of reference were set for that forum's formulation of a report to identify priority research questions.

Stuart Andrew: The Sports Concussion Research Forum’s terms of reference are to develop a prioritised list of translatable research aims relating to concussion in sport, to be drawn from both the sports and academic communities, including consideration of such research that may extend beyond sport-specific areas, where appropriate.The further aim of the Forum is to encourage academic institutions, foundations and other organisations to make concussion in sport one of their priorities and to focus their work in this area around the Forum’s prioritised list of research aims, which is expected to be published in 2024.The members of the Sports Concussion Research Forum are:Dr Robin Buckle (Chair), Chief Scientific Officer, Medical Research Council/UKRIProf Damian Bailey, University of South WalesProf Alan Carson, University of EdinburghProf Peter Hutchinson, University of Cambridge and National Institute of Health ResearchProf Elizabeth Jeffries, University of YorkProf Fiona Lecky, University of Sheffield and Research Director of the Trauma Audit and Research NetworkProf Niklas Marklund, University of Lund, SwedenProf James Rowe, University of CambridgeProf David Sharp, Imperial College London and UK Dementia Research Institute

Sports: Facilities

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which sport facilities have been successful in their application for funding under the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.

Stuart Andrew: The Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme is investing over £325 million between 2021 and 2025 to level up facilities across the whole of the UK. The programme provides funding to make essential facility improvements, so that communities have a high-quality pitch to play on, and is a clear demonstration of the government’s commitment to levelling up all corners of the United Kingdom.Since 2021, over £200 million has been invested in over 2,400 sites across the UK, improving the natural and artificial grass pitches on offer to communities and upgrading floodlights, goalposts, changing rooms and toilet facilities. All funded projects are listed on gov.uk at this link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/multi-sport-grassroots-facilities-programme-projects-2021-to-2025

Rugby: Sixways Stadium

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2024 to Question 15100 on Rugby: Sixways Stadium, whether her Department has had discussions with Begbies Traynor on setting the criteria for which its decision on proposals from Bond Group Sixways for rugby to be resumed at Sixways Stadium will be made.

Stuart Andrew: Throughout the pandemic the Government went above and beyond through the Sport Survival Package to provide a range of sports organisations across the country with generous financial support to ensure their survival throughout that difficult period. The Premiership Rugby club, Worcester Warriors, who played at Sixways Stadium were loaned money via the SSP.In September 2022 Begbies Traynor were appointed as Administrators of Worcester Rugby Football Club (WRFC) Trading and Joint Receivers in relation to further companies within the structure of WRFC Trading. As Administrators, Begbies Traynor have a duty to act in the best interests of creditors and so the Department, as one of those creditors, has a limited role in those proceedings. It is for the Administrator to determine the best course of action to deliver on this objective in line with the Insolvency Act 1986 (as amended).Bond Group should present their best offer to Begbies Traynors, who can evaluate the proposal and discuss with DCMS.

Sports: Facilities

Dr James Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the (a) number and (b) value of grants made to grassroots sport was in (i) Wales and (ii) North Wales since 2010.

Stuart Andrew: Sport is typically a devolved matter. Support for grassroots sport and physical activity in Wales is therefore generally the responsibility of the Welsh Sports Councils and the Welsh Government.However, using financial assistance powers created in the UK Internal Market Act 2020, the UK Government is investing over £400 million between 2021 and 2025 into a wide range of grassroots sports facilities across the UK, to provide people with much-needed spaces to get active and to level up communities.In Wales, this includes:Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme: Over £6.6 million into over 110 sites funded directly from the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme since 2021. This includes over £1.5 million into the North Wales region, with 32 sites funded directly. All funded sites are listed on gov.uk.Park Tennis Court Programme: Over £800,000 into 89 park tennis courts across 36 parks, renovated directly as a result of investment from the Park Tennis Court Programme. Nearly £15,000 has been invested into the North Wales region, with 11 park tennis courts across 5 parks renovated directly as a result of investment from the Park Tennis Court Programme. All completed park tennis courts are listed on gov.uk.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Agriculture: Suffolk

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the number of payments made to farmers by the Rural Payments Agency in (a) Suffolk and (b) Suffolk Coastal constituency in each of the last five years.

Sir Mark Spencer: The Rural Payment Agency estimate they have made 12,617 number of payments to Farm Businesses in (a) Suffolk and (b) Suffolk Coastal constituency in the last five years. The figures provided below relate to payments released within the specified financial years irrespective of the scheme year to which individual payments are related and only cover payments that are provided to farmers by the Rural Payment Agency. The volume of payments is based on a financial year and therefore a customer could have received a payment for 2 scheme years in the same financial year.  Total Funding2019- 20202020- 20212021 20222022 20232023 2024Financial YearFinancial YearFinancial YearFinancial YearFinancial YearTotal26052524246125012526

Sustainable Farming Incentive: Suffolk Coastal

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 have been (a) made and (b) approved in Suffolk Coastal constituency.

Sir Mark Spencer: The Sustainable Farming Incentive has a rolling application window and as of 16 April the RPA has received 94 applications of which 91 agreements have been offered and 75 accepted for the Suffolk Coastal Constituency.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of funding UK-based studies of the (a) use of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine to prevent bovine tuberculosis, (b) period of effectiveness of that vaccine and (c) benefits of that vaccine to the beef industry.

Sir Mark Spencer: Developing a deployable cattle bovine TB vaccine is one of the government’s top priorities. Field trials have been taking place in England and Wales since 2021, following a major breakthrough by government scientists in the development of a new DIVA skin test to Detect Infected among Vaccinated Animals. The aim of these trials is to gather information to enable both the CattleBCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccine and the new DIVA skin test to be authorised for use and recognised internationally. CattleBCG stimulates a protective immune response in vaccinated cattle. In the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)’s experimental challenge model vaccinated animals display a range of protection and demonstrate a 12 month duration of immunity. The extent of disease reduction from CattleBCG depends on many factors including severity of exposure to bTB and herd immunity. Establishing the true level of protection afforded by vaccines is only possible by monitoring and assessing performance after licensing and routine use in the population vaccinated. When combined with existing disease control measures, we are confident that widespread vaccination will help to further reduce the incidence of bTB and its impact on cattle farms in England. We continue to work in partnership with stakeholders, alongside colleagues in Scotland and Wales, to assess how this potential new tool could be deployed in the future and provide the greatest possible benefit to our herds for generations to come. Information on the development of a bovine TB cattle vaccine can be found on the TB Hub at https://tbhub.co.uk/resources/frequently-asked-questions/development-of-a-deployable-tuberculosis-vaccine-for-cattle/.

Responsible Dog Ownership Working Group

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects his Department’s Responsible Dog Ownership Working Group to report.

Sir Mark Spencer: We expect the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce to publish its findings soon. These should address all aspects of tackling irresponsible dog ownership effectively, from prevention to robust, consistent enforcement, focussing on owners as well as on their dogs.

Animal Welfare: Poultry

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 28 March 2024 to Question HL3136 on Poultry: Animal Welfare, what his timeline is for consideration of the findings of the Animal Welfare Committee Opinion on the welfare implications of different methods and systems for the catching, carrying, collecting and loading of poultry; what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Welsh and (b) Scottish government; and when he plans to decide on next steps.

Sir Mark Spencer: We continue to consider in detail the various findings and recommendations in the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on poultry catching and handling. In doing so we are working very closely with the Welsh and Scottish Governments and engaging in regular discussions with them on options to ensure, where possible, a consistent approach. Once our analysis of the options is complete, we will be able to set out a timeline for next steps.

Food Supply

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UK's food security.

Sir Mark Spencer: The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply. Recognising the importance of food security, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was produced in 2021 and the next will be published by December 2024. This report serves as an evidence base for policy work. At the NFU Conference on 20 February 2024, the Prime Minister announced that we will introduce an annual Food Security Index to underpin the three-yearly UK Food Security report. This will present the key data and analysis needed to monitor how we are maintaining our current levels of self-sufficiency and overall food security. We will publish the first draft of the Food Security Index during the second UK Farm to Fork Summit this Spring.

Dangerous Dogs: Enforcement

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what extra resource is being provided for police forces to support their increased caseloads in enforcing the ban on XL Bully dogs.

Sir Mark Spencer: Defra are working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Home Office to assess enforcement capability and capacity in relation to the ban on XL Bully type dogs. We have supported the police to deliver additional training to Dog Legislation Officers to make sure the ban is effectively enforced.

Hedges and Ditches: Conservation

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of miles of hedgerow that has been (a) created and (b) restored since January 2023.

Sir Mark Spencer: We have made no such assessment regarding the total number of hedgerows created or restored since 2023, however, there are now approximately 56,000 miles of hedgerows being managed through 16,000 agreements in the Government’s Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes. Under Countryside Stewardship approximately 20,680 Miles of Hedgerow have been created and restored since January 2023.

Veterinary Medicine: Northern Ireland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to ensure continued supply of veterinary medicines from Great Britain to Northern Ireland; and what steps she has taken to avoid veterinary regulatory divergence.

Sir Mark Spencer: Since EU Exit, a grace period has been in place and continues to be in place until the end of 2025 to safeguard the continued supply to Northern Ireland. The UK Government is committed to securing a long-term sustainable solution ahead of December 2025 that will properly support the flow of veterinary medicines into Northern Ireland from Great Britain on an enduring basis. The Government is determined to safeguard the supply of veterinary medicines in all scenarios, and our key priority is to pursue technical discussions with the EU to find a solution that removes the barriers to supply; in return we are willing to provide assurances and safeguards to the EU. The newly established Veterinary Medicines Working Group, including experts, industry representatives and elected representatives, is playing a key role in advising the Government on identifying solutions at pace. We are also taking steps to make it easier for businesses to apply for a licence on a UK-wide basis and facilitate continued veterinary medicines supply to the whole of the UK. New legislation (the Veterinary Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2024) has been laid in Parliament and is expected to come into force very soon.

Uk Internal Trade: Northern Ireland

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the impact of checks at ports under the Windsor Framework on the time taken for food produce consignments to clear checks.

Sir Mark Spencer: We remain committed to ensuring the smooth flow of goods, reflected in the arrangements we have put in place through the NI Retail Movement Scheme and through the further elements we have set out in the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper. The Government believes that the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme has been rolled out smoothly and professionally for businesses since 1 October and provides a secure basis to protect GB-NI retail agrifood movements, including in the event of further GB-EU divergence on food safety standards. But we will continue to engage intensively with the agri-food supply chain regarding the movement of goods into Northern Ireland to address any issues where they arise.

Dangerous Dogs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act.

Sir Mark Spencer: The Government firmly believes that Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 plays a very important part in our overall approach towards tackling dangerous dogs. The existing legal framework for dog control equips the police and local authorities with appropriate powers to tackle dangerous dogs and irresponsible dog ownership. We are working in partnership with the police, local authorities and animal welfare organisations to ensure that the full range of existing dog control powers are effectively applied to encourage responsible dog ownership and reduce the risk of dog attacks.

Dangerous Dogs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to measure the effectiveness of the XL Bully ban over the next five years.

Sir Mark Spencer: Defra is developing a monitoring and evaluation plan to assess the effectiveness of the XL Bully dog ban.

Dangerous Dogs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has taken steps to increase the number of dog legislation officers following the introduction of the XL Bully dog ban.

Sir Mark Spencer: Defra are working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Home Office to assess enforcement capability and capacity in relation to the ban on XL Bully type dogs. We have supported the police to deliver additional training to Dog Legislation Officers to make sure the ban is effectively enforced.

Dangerous Dogs: Animal Breeding

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support is available to (a) animal rescue organisations and (b) local authorities to care for XL Bully puppies that do not meet the legal breed standard for a banned type of dog, but may eventually grow to do so.

Sir Mark Spencer: My Department is engaging closely with local authorities and rescue and rehoming organisations to monitor the impacts of the XL Bully dog ban.

Livestock: Exports

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what number of live (a) cattle, (b) sheep, (c) pigs, (d) goats and (e) poultry were exported for (i) fattening and (ii) slaughter in 2023.

Sir Mark Spencer: There have been no livestock exports for slaughter or fattening from Great Britain to continental Europe since 2020.

Potatoes: Diseases

Douglas Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help protect farmers against new strains of potato blight.

Sir Mark Spencer: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a holistic approach that carefully considers all available plant protection methods and keeps the use of pesticides to levels that are ecologically and economically justified. IPM lies at the heart of our approach to minimise the environmental impact of pesticides and is a key tool for businesses facing the challenges of pesticide resistance, removal of pesticides from the market, and changing pest pressures due to climate change. Within the National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) we will set out our policies to increase the uptake of IPM by farmers, growers, amenity managers and amateur gardeners. Having an IPM approach can reduce the risks associated with pesticides, combat pesticide resistance, and support sustainable agricultural productivity. IPM aims to diversify crop protection and reduce reliance on the use of chemical pesticides by making use of lower risk alternatives and promoting natural processes. For example, creating habitats for natural predators of plant pests, or using crop rotations to break pest, weed and disease cycles. When alternative methods are ineffective or unavailable, IPM also aims to optimise and minimise the use of chemical pesticides through targeted and precise application. We have recently commissioned a package of research projects that will bring together scientific evidence underpinning IPM and to look at ways of further encouraging its uptake. This work will support farmers’ access to the most effective IPM tools available and ensure that we understand changing trends in pest threats across the UK. Defra is also a partner in the European Research Area Network (ERA-Net) Co-Fund on Sustainable Crop Production (SusCrop). This research network aims to enhance cooperation and coordination of different national and regional research programmes focussing on agriculture and climate change, sustainable farming systems and biodiversity, sustainable water management, resource efficiency and resilience in the food chain. It also seeks to increase productivity through technological innovation. Projects within SusCrop ERA-Net include: ‘Eco-friendly solutions for the integrated management of late and early blight of potatoes (ECOSOL)’ which aims to Identify Effective Biological Control Agents and Plant Resistance Inducers for the Control of Potato Late Blight in the field.

Angling: Tuna

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on opening a recreational catch and release fishery for bluefin tuna by summer 2024.

Sir Mark Spencer: Legislation to enable a UK bluefin recreational fishery was laid in Parliament on 14 March 2024. If the legislation is enacted it will support the opening of a recreational fishery in English waters this summer.

UK Internal Trade: Labelling

Alyn Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of introducing Not for EU labelling on agricultural businesses.

Sir Mark Spencer: Since the Windsor Framework was agreed, we have engaged intensively with businesses across the supply chain, including with agricultural businesses to understand their perspectives. We have published guidance on the labelling requirements to support businesses to understand any changes that may be required. We have undertaken a public consultation on the extension of the labelling requirement across Great Britain. This provided the opportunity for stakeholders, including agricultural businesses, to put forward their views on the approach. We will be publishing a response to the consultation in due course.

National Pig Association and National Farmers Union

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he last met representatives of the (a) National Farmers Union and (b) National Pig Association UK; and what the results of those discussions were.

Sir Mark Spencer: The Secretary of State regularly meets with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU). In the last month he has met with the NFU President, Tom Bradshaw, during a visit to Dartmoor to discuss the Government’s response to the Fursdon Review. He also met with the NFU’s Deputy President, David Exwood, during a Farm Tenancy Forum in March to discuss the implementation of Kate Rock’s tenant farming review. As the Minister of State for Food, Farming and Fisheries, I also have frequent engagement with the pig sector and officials meet with representatives of the National Pig Association on a regular basis.

Flowers: Diseases

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many recorded incidents of disease were connected to imports from the EU of (a) gypsophila, (b) solidago, (c) orchids, (d) dianthus and (e) chrysanthemum between 2010 and 2020.

Sir Mark Spencer: Between 2010 and 2020 fifty-two (52) consignments from the EU were diagnosed with pests, or disease as part of general quarantine inspections. Findings were as follows:(a) Gypsophila (1), (b) Solidago (1) (c) Orchids including Phalaenopsis, Cymbidium, Dendrobium & Vanda, (13), (d) Dianthus (5) and (e) Chrysanthemum (32)

Flowers: Diseases

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of declaring (a) Orchidaceae, (b) Dendranthema, (c) Dianthus, (d) Gypsophila and (e) Solidago from the EU as medium risk on the floristry industry.

Sir Mark Spencer: The new import health control regime aims to achieve the lowest regulatory obligation for businesses, consistent with the need to protect biosecurity and public health and to safeguard the UK’s reputation for high regulatory standards. We will work closely with trade partners to ensure that the process and rationale for categorisation of commodities is understood and seen to be robust and fair. However, it should be noted that categorisation is based on the UK’s risk assessment, not stakeholder feedback.

UK Internal Trade: Labelling

Alyn Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of introducing Not for EU labelling on trends in consumer behaviour in the purchase of agricultural products from UK-based businesses.

Sir Mark Spencer: Labelling is a proportionate and necessary means of ensuring goods moving under the unique arrangements provided by the Windsor Framework are not being moved inappropriately into the EU. We are not aware of any change in consumer behaviour based on the labelling requirements in place so far, which already sees those labels on products on shelves across the UK in practice. That reflects that the ‘not-for-EU’ label does not represent a change in standards of production and quality and is simply a means of ensuring the smooth movement of goods within the UK.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Training

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department spent in the last 12 months on (a) in-work and (b) other training on (i) coastal restoration, (ii) the protection of coastal and marine ecosystems, (iii) monitoring, (iv) enforcement and (v) sustainable recreation; how much he plans to spend on each of those areas in the next 12 months; and whether his Department employs apprentices.

Rebecca Pow: The requested information on training spend is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs. Core Defra Marine and Fisheries staff and employees of Defra’s marine Arm’s Length Bodies undertake a range of training and learning and development (L&D) opportunities covering a wide range of topics including coastal restoration and the protection of marine ecosystems, monitoring, enforcement, and sustainable recreation. Training is delivered through a range of means, including for example on the job learning, attending courses, peer to peer learning, conferences or talks, membership of professional bodies/learned societies, reviewing literature and mentoring. There is no mechanism through which we can give a specific amount that will be spent on those areas in the next 12 months. Every civil servant is supported to undertake L&D and expected to undertake the training necessary to their role. Detailed records are not kept at a corporate level on specific training. The department does employ apprentices. As at March 2024 Defra Group currently has 880 active apprentices.

Animal Welfare: Poultry

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) issuing a moratorium on intensive poultry-farming units and (b) lowering the population threshold at which an environmental permit to operate is required.

Sir Mark Spencer: The British poultry industry is resilient and operates in an open market. Environmental permits require intensive poultry farms with more than 40 000 bird places to mitigate the environmental risks of their operations. Over 80% of poultry birds and nationally are raised on farms which require an environmental permit to operate. Impacts on habitats are also considered when planning consents are issued to both permitted farms and to smaller poultry units.

Inland Border Facilities: Ashford (Kent)

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the operational hours for Sevington border control post are for the week commencing 6 May 2024; and whether the post will have the capacity to carry out inspections overnight.

Sir Mark Spencer: Sevington IBF is intended to operate as a Border Control Post 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from 30th April. As such, and pending the designation decision, the site will conduct inspections overnight.

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to Question 19018, tabled on 18 March 2024, on Members: Correspondence, when he plans to reply to the letters of 12 January and 14 February 2024 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare on behalf of a constituent about e-collars.

Sir Mark Spencer: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 15 April 2024. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.

Import Controls: Fees and Charges

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2024 to Question 19615 on Import Controls: Fees and Charges, if he will publish a list of all (a) Government-run and (b) privately-run border control posts.

Sir Mark Spencer: Please see a full list of Border Control Posts (BCPs) at Animal and animal product imports: authorised border control posts in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Sevington is currently undergoing the designation process to become a BCP, and, if so designated, will be the only Government run BCP.

Fisheries: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in Northern Ireland on the number of skilled workers employed in the Northern Irish fisheries industry.

Sir Mark Spencer: The Government believes that every role in the fishing industry in Northern Ireland requires a wide variety of skills. The most recent statistics from the Marine Management Organisation’s Sea Fisheries Statistics 2022 show that the fishing industry in Northern Ireland employed 799 people, all of whom are skilled.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: ICT

Dame Nia Griffith: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, updated on 29 February 2024, what steps his Department has taken to mitigate the risks of red-rated legacy IT systems.

David Rutley: The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify 'red-rated' systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by next year (2025). It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within the FCDO's IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems may be at risk, and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities. FCDO are actively managing their legacy estate via their existing change plans through system upgrades and migration to public cloud.

Haiti: Food Aid

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to the World Food Programme's (WFP) press release entitled WFP scrambles to respond to hunger crisis in Haiti amid funding crunch as country teeters on the brink, published on 12 March 2024, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) humanitarian access to and (b) the free flow of (i) food and (ii) commodities in Haiti.

David Rutley: The UK continues to support Haiti through our contributions to UN agencies, multi donor, pooled NGO funds, and institutions such as the World Bank Group, who are active in addressing Haiti's significant humanitarian challenges. The difficult security situation within Haiti has impeded humanitarian access, but the UN has established a limited humanitarian airbridge. In response to calls for urgent humanitarian assistance, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, of which the UK is historically the largest contributor, has authorised disbursement of $12 million to support those affected.

Haiti: Humanitarian Situation

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the humanitarian situation in Haiti.

David Rutley: The UK remains concerned by the deteriorating security situation in Haiti that exacerbates pre-existing humanitarian and economic crises. We continue to support Haiti through our contributions to UN agencies, multi donor, pooled NGO funds, and institutions such as the World Bank Group, who are active in addressing Haiti's significant humanitarian challenges. It is clear that the climate of insecurity is driving Haiti's humanitarian needs, and we hope that deployment of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti, to which the Foreign Secretary announced a £5 million ODA contribution on 9 April, will improve this.

Czechia: Whooping Cough

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to support the Czech Republic, in the context of the pertussis outbreak in that country.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We are aware of the pertussis outbreak in the Czech Republic. No request for assistance has been made by the Czech Republic.

Caribbean: Foreign Relations

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s development objectives in the Caribbean of the (a) security and (b) humanitarian situation in Haiti.

David Rutley: The UK is committed to supporting a Haitian-led political solution to the escalating violence in the country, and commends the efforts of Caribbean partners to work towards a return to security and stability. I [Minister Rutley] attended the Caribbean Heads of Government meeting (CARICOM) in Guyana on 26 February and heard their concerns on the security situation in Haiti. The UK Government assists Haiti through our financial contributions to UN agencies and the World Bank. We are increasing support for the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) to secure their borders in response to worsening violence in neighbouring Haiti.

José Alirio Chochué Molano

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of reports of the murder of José Alirio Chochué Molanoin in Colombia on 19 January 2024.

David Rutley: The British Government remains concerned at the worrying rate of murders of, and threats against, peace signatories, including that of José Alirio Chochué. We will continue to support the Colombian Government in its commitment to implement the 2016 Peace Agreement and ensure the protection and safety of peace activists and women's rights campaigners. During my visit to Colombia in March, I raised the human rights situation with Vice Foreign Minister Coy. At the UN Security Council meeting on Colombia earlier this month, we set out our concern over attacks on human rights defenders, communities, women and social leaders, and reiterated our commitment to supporting efforts to tackle the root causes of violence in Colombia.

Western Sahara

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what the Government's policy is on the territorial status of Western Sahara.

David Rutley: The UK regards the status of Western Sahara as undetermined and continues to support UN-led efforts to reach a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, based on compromise, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

Western Sahara: Natural Resources

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make it his policy to support the establishment of a UN Council for Natural Resources in Western Sahara.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with his UN Security Council counterparts on ending the extraction of natural resources from Western Sahara.

David Rutley: We do not consider commercial activity to be illegal in Western Sahara, providing it respects the interests of the Sahrawi people. The UK continues to support the UN-led efforts and the work of Staffan de Mistura as Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General to Western Sahara and we continue to encourage constructive engagement with the political process and monitor progress.

Syria: Bombings

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the car bombing in Azaz on 30 March 2024.

David Rutley: The Government remains concerned by the increased violence in north-west Syria in recent months, particularly since October 2023. The escalating violence is causing immense suffering to the civilian population. We call on all parties to de-escalate. We continue to press - including at the UN Security Council - for progress in the UN-facilitated political process. Only a political settlement in line with UN Security Council resolution 2254 can deliver a lasting peace for Syria.

British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will take steps to (a) help support Chagossians to return to British Indian Ocean territory and (b) hold a referendum on the ownership of that territory.

David Rutley: Issues relating to the islands are subject to ongoing negotiations between Mauritius and the UK.The UK has no plans to hold a referendum regarding the future administration of the islands. The UK Government remains committed to supporting Chagossians wherever they live, including through Government-funded projects in the UK and Mauritius and the new route to British citizenship, launched in November 2022.

St Helena: Restitution

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had discussions with the St Helena Government on steps to return the remains of formerly enslaved people from St Helena to their ancestral homes.

David Rutley: Approximately 8000 former slaves died after being taken to St Helena by the Royal Navy's West African Squadron trying to halt the slave trade in the mid-nineteenth century; their ancestral homes are not known. 325 Skeletons were unearthed during the construction of St Helena Airport and the UK Government provided support for their reburial on 21 August 2022. St Helena Government plans to create a memorial and interpretation centre to honour those who died.

Argentina: Diplomatic Service

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of reports of the expulsion of Argentinian diplomats from the Argentinian Embassy in Bogota.

David Rutley: Diplomatic relations between Colombia and Argentina are a matter for those two countries.

Venezuela: Elections

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in Venezuela on reports that the opposition leader of the Unitary Platform has been blocked as a candidate from July’s presidential elections in Venezuela.

David Rutley: The UK does not to accept the legitimacy of the administration put in place by Nicolás Maduro. In my [Minister Rutley] tweet on 28 January, I registered our concern regarding the situation of María Corina Machado. Her disqualification from holding public office is a backwards step. All opposition candidates should be allowed to stand unimpeded for election in 2024. We urge the implementation of electoral guarantees in line with the Barbados Agreement of October 2023.

Libya: Oil

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of imposing sanctions on perpetrators of oil corruption in Libya.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Oil corruption in Libya hinders the progress on the political process and facilitates the entrenchment of the status quo, threatening Libya's stability and future development. The UK continues to work with partners to tackle issues such as financial transparency and oil smuggling. UN Security Council Resolution 1970 and domestic UK legislation gives the UK the power to sanction individuals and entities who threaten the peace and stability of Libya. It would be inappropriate, however, to speculate on future designations as it could reduce their effectiveness.

Myanmar: Armed Conflict

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of drone attacks on the Myanmar military in Naypyidaw.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: We are monitoring the escalation of the conflict in Myanmar closely, including the recent drone attacks on Nay Pyi Taw. We are concerned by rising atrocity risks and humanitarian need across the country. We are working to ensure our humanitarian assistance reaches the most vulnerable with over 18.6 million now in need and over 2.7 million displaced. Since the 2021 military coup, the UK has provided almost £150 million in life-saving humanitarian assistance, emergency healthcare and education support, and work to support civil society and local communities across Myanmar.

Venezuela: Politics and Government

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will have discussions with his Venezuelan counterpart on reports that Venezuelan security services used gangs to attack exiled opponents living in exile in Colombia.

David Rutley: The UK does not accept the legitimacy of the administration put in place by Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. The UK strongly condemns activity which reaches across borders to interfere with individuals' safety and freedom. Our Embassy in Bogota is active in defending the democratic rights of the Venezuelan opposition in Colombia. During my visit to Colombia last month, I [Minister Rutley] met with Vice Foreign Minister Coy and urged Colombia to continue to use its influence to encourage Venezuela to hold fair and competitive elections.

Haiti: Humanitarian Aid

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he is taking steps to provide humanitarian support in Haiti.

David Rutley: The UK remains concerned by the deteriorating security situation in Haiti which exacerbates pre-existing humanitarian and economic crises. We continue to support Haiti through our contributions to UN agencies, multi donor, pooled NGO funds, and institutions such as the World Bank Group, who are active in addressing Haiti's significant humanitarian challenges.

Russia: Cereals

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the EU's proposals to impose tariffs of up to 50% on Russian grain imports.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We are closely following the EU's proposals to impose tariffs on Russian grain and oilseed imports, which are subject to adoption by the European Council.The UK imposed 35 per cent additional tariffs on Russian cereals and oilseeds in March 2022, following which imports fell by over 99 per cent and are now negligible.

Department for Work and Pensions

Flexible Support Fund

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department provides to work coaches on the flexible work fund; and what steps he is taking to promote uptake of that funding.

Jo Churchill: The Department provides comprehensive guidance which is regularly updated to support our Work Coaches use of the Flexible Support Fund (FSF). We are currently reviewing our guidance to increase both usage and clarity of FSF.  We have recently promoted the availability of FSF on Gov.uk specifically in relation to Upfront Child Care costs Universal Credit childcare costs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Universal Credit

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) allowing people that are moving from legacy benefits to Universal Credit to use a countersignature as proof of ID and (b) opening Job Centres on (i) evenings and (ii) weekends for people who are in full-time employment.

Jo Churchill: Countersignatures or vouching can be used to verify an identity as an exception where the customer does not have any other method to prove who they are. This method is more time consuming for both the customer and agent and we have found that the majority of our customers can meet the identify verification criteria. A number of our Jobcentres across the network already offer a Saturday service. We do not offer evening appointments, but it is important to emphasise that we have a number of different mechanisms through which customers can access our services; for example, through our Universal Credit (UC) system which is a digital platform where customers can leave messages on their journal to update UC agents on their current circumstances. A number of our service lines also offer telephony services into the evening.

Carer's Allowance: Newport West

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he has made an assessment of the potential benefits to carers in Newport West of increasing the Carer's Allowance to £93 a week.

Mims Davies: This Government continues to protect the value of benefits paid to carers whilst also spending record amounts in real terms. The level of Carer’s Allowance is protected by uprating it each April in line with inflation as measured by the CPI for the previous September. The purpose of benefit uprating is to ensure that the value of benefits stays in line with the general level of prices. From April 2024, the Carer’s Allowance payment was increased to £81.90. Since 2010, the rate of Carer’s Allowance has increased from £53.90 to £81.90 a week, providing an additional £1,500 a year for carers. Real terms expenditure on Carer’s Allowance in 2024/25 is forecast to be £4.1 billion. Between 2024/25 and 2028/29 real terms expenditure on Carer’s Allowance is forecast to rise by 12% - around £500 million. By 2028/29, the Government is forecast to spend just over £4.5 billion a year on Carer’s Allowance. As well as Carer’s Allowance, carers have access to the full range of social security benefits. For example, carers on Universal Credit can receive around an additional £2,400 a year through the Carer Element.

Carer's Allowance: Expenditure

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the Exchequer of exempting young adult carers aged 16 to 24 in further education from the 21-hour rule; and what the budget for carer's allowance is for the 2023-24 financial year.

Mims Davies: It is not possible to provide such an estimate as there is no collated figure on the number of full-time students who are also providing unpaid care. And even if there were, DWP would not know how many were potentially eligible for Carer’s Allowance and could meet the basic eligibility criteria (including on the number of hours of care they were providing and for whom, and whether they were undertaking any work etc). DWP is forecast to have spent £3.7 billion on Carer’s Allowance in 2023/24.

Carer's Allowance: Students

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact on the educational attainment of young adult carers aged 16 to 24 of the eligibility criteria for carer's allowance that a person must not be studying for 21 hours or more.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold information on the educational attainment of young adult carers.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 5.57, page 74 of the Spring Budget 2024, what steps he plans to take to increase system capacity for the purposes of reducing the time taken to process disability claims.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) strategies, (b) resources and (c) procedural enhancements he plans to employ to ensure PIP clearing targets are met.

Mims Davies: We are committed to ensuring that people can access financial support through PIP in a timely manner and reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the Department. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence. There are no clearing targets for PIP. Following an increase in new claims and end-to-end PIP clearance times after the Covid pandemic, we have taken steps to reduce and stabilise customer journey times for PIP claimants. The latest statistics show that the average clearance time for new claims is 15 weeks end-to-end, a significant decrease from 26 weeks in August 2021. We are addressing the increase in new claims and award reviews by increasing provider and case manager capacity and using a blend of assessment channels to deliver a more efficient and user-centred service. We are prioritising new claims, whilst safeguarding claimants awaiting award reviews, aiming to make a decision as quickly as possible. The measure announced in the Budget will provide additional funding to support the processing of increased volumes of disability benefit claims. This will help to ensure that waiting times remain low and that claimants receive the appropriate level of support in a timely manner.

Pensioners: Carer's Allowance

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of awarding the full Carer's Allowance to unpaid carers that are in receipt of the state pension.

Mims Davies: Although there is no upper age limit to claiming Carer’s Allowance, it cannot normally be paid with the State Pension. It has been a long held feature of the UK’s benefit system, under successive Governments, that where someone is entitled to two benefits for the same contingency, then whilst there may be entitlement to both benefits, only one will be paid to avoid duplication for the same need. Although entitlement to State Pension and Carer’s Allowance arise in different circumstances they are nevertheless designed for the same contingency – as an income replacement. Carer’s Allowance replaces income where the carer has given up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to care for a severely disabled person, while State Pension replaces income in retirement. For this reason, social security rules operate to prevent them being paid together, to avoid duplicate provision for the same need.However, if a carer’s State Pension is less than Carer's Allowance, State Pension is paid and topped up with Carer's Allowance to the basic weekly rate of Carer's Allowance which is currently £81.90.Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. This gives access to the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit of £45.60 a week and potentially other means-tested support. Around 100,000 people are receiving the Carer Premium with their Pension Credit. And even if a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, they may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.

Universal Credit: Respiratory Diseases

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of people affected by (a) respiratory and (b) fatigue conditions who may have their Universal Credit awards changed under the recently announced Work Capability Assessment reforms.

Mims Davies: In November last year we announced changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) criteria, to deliver the right outcomes and reflect changes in work since the criteria were last comprehensively reviewed in 2011. Changes to the WCA activities and descriptors will be implemented nationally no earlier than 2025. The majority of existing Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance claimants will not be affected by the WCA changes if they have already been assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity. With these changes to the WCA criteria, 424,000* fewer people will be assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity by 2028-29 and will receive personalised support to help them move closer to employment. A further 33,000* individuals will be found fit for work by 2028-2029 and will receive more intensive support to search for and secure work than would be the case under the current WCA rules. Estimates are not based on specific conditions because the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.

Carer's Allowance: Students

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of awarding Carer’s Allowance to unpaid carers that are studying (a) 21 hours and (b) more than 21 hours per week.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of awarding Carer’s Allowance to unpaid carers between the ages of 16-18 that are studying (a) 21 hours and (b) more than 21 hours per week.

Mims Davies: This Government recognises and appreciates the vital contribution made by all informal carers. We think it is right that people in full-time education should be supported by the educational maintenance system, via its range of loans and grants, rather than the social security benefit system. That is why, as a general principle, full-time students are usually precluded from entitlement to income-related and income-maintenance benefits, including Carer’s Allowance. Part-time students may be able to claim Carer’s Allowance though. This reflects long-standing principles of the benefit system and we have no plans to change these rules. Department for Work and Pensions officials work very closely with their Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care counterparts to ensure that young carers get the help and support they need.

Carer's Allowance

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the Carer’s Allowance to £93 per week.

Mims Davies: This Government continues to protect the value of benefits paid to carers whilst also spending record amounts in real terms.The level of Carer’s Allowance is protected by uprating it each April in line with inflation as measured by the CPI for the previous September. The purpose of benefit uprating is to ensure that the value of benefits stays in line with the general level of prices. From April 2024, the Carer’s Allowance payment was increased to £81.90. Since 2010, the rate of Carer’s Allowance has increased from £53.90 to £81.90 a week, providing an additional £1,500 a year for carers.Real terms expenditure on Carer’s Allowance in 2024/25 is forecast to be £4.1 billion. Between 2024/25 and 2028/29 real terms expenditure on Carer’s Allowance is forecast to rise by 12% - around £500 million. By 2028/29, the Government is forecast to spend just over £4.5 billion a year on Carer’s Allowance.As well as Carer’s Allowance, carers have access to the full range of social security benefits. For example, carers on Universal Credit can receive around an additional £2,400 a year through the Carer Element.

Carer's Allowance

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the earnings threshold for Carer's Allowance in-line with the National Living Wage for financial year 2024-25.

Mims Davies: The weekly earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance has just increased from £139 to £151 net earnings per week, in line with the increase Average Weekly Earnings of 8.5%. Successive Governments have taken the same approach to the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit and increased it when it is warranted and affordable. The earnings limit has increased by one half since 2010.

Employment: Visual Impairment

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of economically active individuals there were (a) in total and (b) with self-reported sight problems in England in 2022-23.

Mims Davies: The information requested can be found in the table below.Labour market status by main or secondary long-term health condition, 16 to 64, England, 2022/23 Labour market statusTotalDifficulty in seeingTotal35,038,400487,200Economically active27,551,700238,800 Source: Annual Population Survey (APS) – unpublishedNotes:Numbers are rounded to the nearest 100.Numbers are central estimates and subject to sampling variation. The precision of these estimates will be limited by sample size.Annual Population Survey data has not been reweighted to incorporate the latest estimates of the size and composition of the UK population.Figures for ‘Difficulty in seeing’ are unpublished but are a variation of those contained within: The employment of disabled people 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Carer's Allowance

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure carers are made aware when they have exceeded the threshold for claiming carer's allowance.

Mims Davies: DWP remains focussed and passionate about ensuring that the experience for our DWP customers is at the forefront of the decisions that we make, the processes we deliver, and the improvements that we design. We have made it easier for customers to contact DWP via the channel that makes the most sense for them. DWP customers can report change of circumstances by telephone, letter, and online via GOV.UK which outlines the routeway of how a customer should notify DWP for each benefit where changes occur. This includes the use of Universal Credit Journal to report changes directly to the appropriate benefit affected where earnings increase or decrease accordingly. For customers seeking advice on Carer’s Allowance (CA) entitlement, GOV.UK provides detail on eligibility. The CA threshold for earnings is £151 a week from April 2024, after tax, National Insurance, and expenses. Following a successful claim to CA customers are issued with an ‘award letter’ which includes a reminder that ‘You must tell us if your earnings or expenses change.” This helps to ensure that their CA claim runs smoothly, and the earnings threshold for claiming Carer's Allowance is not exceeded. As benefit and pension rates are uprated, CA customers are further issued with new benefit rate ‘uprating letters’ which also include reminders to report changes in circumstances. For irregular earners, CA work closely with our customers to ensure CA is only paid for the periods when the customer’s earnings fluctuate and are below the earnings limit. In this way, this should ensure that CA is not overpaid, as information is obtained from the customer for set periods of time to ensure CA is paid correctly for that period. As our customers rightly expect, DWP is committed to continuous improvement, and we have many mechanisms in place to measure, and analyse the experience of our customers, providing DWP with a rich source of feedback that helps us to review and improve our services.

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of (a) 28 December 2023, (b) 25 January and (c) 22 February 2024 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare, relating to delays in actioning Pension Credit.

Paul Maynard: Departmental officials replied to your correspondence of 28 December 2023 and 25 January on 16 January and 21 February respectively. I replied to the hon. Member’s letter of 22 February on 22 April.

Department for Work and Pensions: ICT

Pat McFadden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, updated on 29 February 2024, when his Department first assessed each of the red-rated legacy IT systems in his Department to be red-rated.

Paul Maynard: DWP has mature, industry standard mechanisms for assessing the risk of its core IT systems which has been implemented and running for decades. The first time DWP reported figures to the cross-government initiative led by CDDO was November 2022.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Orwell Bridge: Weather

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will instruct the Meteorological Office to publish the (a) actual and (b) forecast data on wind in relation to Orwell Bridge in Suffolk every day.

Andrew Griffith: The Met Office provides public site-specific weather forecasts for numerous locations in the UK, which are available on the Met Office website and app. The nearest site-specific forecast is for Suffolk Ski Centre, which is adjacent to Orwell Bridge. The Met Office has a network of weather observing stations around the UK and the latest observations are available on the Met Office website. The Met Office does not have a weather observing station at Orwell Bridge. The nearest is at Wattisham. The Met Office provides a commercial forecasting service to national highways to aid decision making on speed limits and closure of Orwell Bridge due to high winds, to help keep bridge users safe.

Telemedicine: Older People

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate she has made of the average cost per household of replacing a telecare system to accommodate the BT Digital Voice migration in (a) a private residence, (b) a retirement housing community and (c) a care home; and whether these costs include the provision of (i) battery backup systems and (ii) replacement of associated systems such as (A) lift alarms, (B) fire safety alarms and (C) intercom equipment.

Julia Lopez: Given the range of telecare systems, lifeline alarm systems or remote ringers available on the market, we cannot definitively provide cost estimates for replacing a device. Telecare devices can come with a range of potential add-ons that may increase costs, including but not limited to additional power resilience (such as multi-SIM connectivity solutions); personalised support (such as a dedicated helpline); and/or additional monitoring (such as tracking health data like heart rate or blood pressure). It should be noted that the migration from analogue to digital landlines (also known as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) migration) is not specific to BT; other telecoms providers are also upgrading their analogue lines. Furthermore, the telecoms industry is not responsible for the provision or maintenance of telecare devices. The government is working closely with telecoms companies, Local Authorities and telecare services providers to understand how the migration may impact telecare users and what more can be done to mitigate risks associated with the migration. For example, all major communications providers (including BT and Virgin Media O2) have signed up to a PSTN Charter where they commit not to migrate telecare users without a full confirmation that they have a compatible and functioning telecare solution in place.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Disinformation

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of her Department's media literacy strategy in countering (a) mis- and (b) dis-information.

Saqib Bhatti: Improving media literacy is one of the government’s key tools in tackling the harm caused by misinformation and disinformation. To demonstrate how the Government is delivering against the objectives of the Online Media Literacy Strategy, we are publishing annual Action Plans each financial year until the end of 2024/25. Through media literacy grant schemes, we have provided almost £2 million in funding to a range of educational projects.These projects seek to build the online safety and critical thinking skills of internet users, empowering them to respond effectively to the threats posed by mis- and disinformation, along with other online harms. All funded projects are evaluated robustly, including by independent experts, and findings will be published on gov.uk upon completion. This will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of future media literacy initiatives and inform government policy moving forward.As part of this work, we established the Media Literacy Taskforce to bring together organisations in the media literacy landscape to amplify, increase and improve media literacy provision across underserved parts of the UK. Taskforce members advised the government on which projects should be awarded funding, and then helped grant recipients to maximise the impact of their projects.Alongside the Strategy, the Online Safety Act updates Ofcom’s statutory media literacy duty to require it to take tangible steps to prioritise the public's awareness of and resilience to misinformation and disinformation online.

Broadband: Suffolk Coastal

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help provide broadband connections to rural communities in Suffolk.

Julia Lopez: According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, 98% of premises in the county of Suffolk can access a superfast broadband connection. Furthermore, over 68% of premises are able to access a gigabit-capable connection, up from just 4% in December 2019. In June 2023 we announced that a Project Gigabit contract had been awarded to the supplier CityFibre. This contract has a value of over £100 million, covering 79,500 hard-to-reach premises in Suffolk that would otherwise miss out on a gigabit-capable connection. The supplier has completed the initial planning and survey work for this contract and the first connections are expected to be made this summer. We expect the contract to be completed by December 2028.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Suffolk Coastal

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential economic impact of funding provided by her Department to projects in Suffolk Coastal constituency in the last four years.

Andrew Griffith: UK Research and Innovation spend in Suffolk in financial year 2020-21 (the latest available data) was £1.71 million, of which £1.6 million was from Innovate UK (IUK). In December 2023, in collaboration with New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, IUK launched the New Anglia Local Action Plan to give Norfolk and Suffolk innovators and entrepreneurs improved access to expertise, tools and support to help them grow. For example, Haverhill-based Keronite has used an IUK grant to develop a highly efficient, low-impact solution to water treatment.

Broadband: Suffolk Coastal

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help improve (a) 4G and (b) 5G coverage in (i) Suffolk Coastal constituency and (ii) Suffolk.

Julia Lopez: This Government is taking steps to improve both 4G and 5G coverage across the country. In the East of England our £1bn agreement with the industry to deliver the Shared Rural Network programme (SRN) will see 4G coverage from all four Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) rise to 93% of the geographic landmass, up from 90% when the programme began in 2020. In Suffolk Coastal, 4G coverage already stands at 81% geographic coverage from all four MNOs and almost 100% from at least one MNO. While the SRN is focused on areas with poorer coverage, it is not the only focus for infrastructure investment for mobile connectivity. In addition, the MNOs independently invest around £2 billion annually across the UK in enhancing and improving their networks. According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations report, basic, non-standalone, 5G is available outside 74% of premises in the Suffolk Coastal constituency from at least one MNO. In the Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, published in April 2023, we announced a new ambition for nationwide coverage of higher quality standalone 5G in all populated areas by 2030. The strategy includes a series of measures to help the private sector invest in 5G networks by supporting investment and driving the take-up of innovative, 5G-enabled tech by businesses and the public sector. The Department provides extensive guidance for local authorities and operators to help facilitate broadband and mobile deployment through the Digital Connectivity Portal. We have also taken steps to make it easier and cheaper for operators to deploy 4G and 5G. This includes reforming the planning system in England. Alongside this, measures within the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022, will support the deployment of wireless infrastructure, including 4G and 5G.

Broadband: Suffolk Coastal

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an estimate of the proportion of households that have access to broadband in Suffolk Coastal constituency.

Julia Lopez: According to Ofcom’s December 2023 Connected Nations report, over 95% of premises in the Suffolk Coastal constituency have access to a superfast connection, with 37% having access to a gigabit-capable connection. Only 2% of premises are unable to access a decent fixed broadband connection and may be able to get an improved connection through the Broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO).The Broadband USO gives individuals the right to request a decent broadband connection. Consumers are deemed not to have a decent broadband connection if their current connection falls below 10Mbps download and 1Mbps upload; the cost of accessing a decent broadband connection is higher than £56.20 per month and they are not due to be connected by an existing government scheme within the next 12 months.Consumers whose connections would cost more than the reasonable cost threshold covered by the USO (of £3,400), can choose to pay the excess cost (with crowdfunding options available).The Government is rolling out Project Gigabit, a £5 billion mission to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to 99% of UK premises by 2030. This constituency is included in the Project Gigabit contract for Suffolk that was signed by the supplier CityFibre in June 2023.

Telecommunications: Consumers

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Further agreement with telecoms firms to protect vulnerable customers, published on 11 March 2024, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the definition of vulnerable.

Julia Lopez: DSIT is working closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) regarding the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) migration. On 29 January, DSIT Ministers met with Ministerial counterparts from DHSC and the, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to discuss Departmental responsibilities during the migration. The Departments have collectively agreed a Telecare National Action Plan (TNAP) outlining each Department’s role during the migration to ensure that telecare users and other vulnerable customers are protected. As set out in this action plan, DSIT has agreed to lead on defining vulnerability with support from DHSC and DLUHC. For more information regarding the work to define vulnerability, I refer the Hon Member to the answers given to Question UIN 21918 and 21919 on 19th April 2024.

Digital Technology: Local Government

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department plans to provide funding to support local authority digital champions.

Julia Lopez: The Government has published information on the role of Digital Champions within the Digital Connectivity Portal. The Portal is an extensive online resource providing best practice guidance helping local authorities to facilitate digital infrastructure deployment.https://www.gov.uk/guidance/digital-strategy-and-leadership#digital-champion Whilst there are currently no plans for the Government to fund local authority digital champions we believe they play a key role in advancing the digital connectivity agenda - and help local communities to realise the benefits advanced connectivity can bring. The Government has also awarded over £36 million to local and regional authorities as part of its 5G Innovation Regions programme. The funding will support regions to create the right conditions to accelerate the adoption of 5G and other advanced wireless connectivity in key local sectors and attract investment in advanced wireless infrastructure.

Voice Over Internet Protocol

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether officials in her Department have had discussions with Ofcom on the potential merits of increasing the minimum requirement for the battery life of an emergency back-up line provided to properties switched to the digital phone network.

Julia Lopez: Government is committed to improving protections for those who depend on their landline for connectivity. All signatories to the PSTN charter, agreed in December 2023, have committed to working to provide solutions that go beyond the Ofcom minimum guidance. Ofcom guidance states that communications providers should have at least one solution that enables access to emergency organisations, for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power outage. Communication Providers are required to meet standards and specifications set out in the General Conditions of Entitlement, under obligations imposed by the Communications Act 2003, to ensure continuity of service. Last year, DSIT asked Ofcom to consider how the general resilience of telecommunications services in the event of prolonged power outages served the needs of customers. In response, Ofcom launched a consultation on the resilience of the sector which included a separate call for input on power backup for mobile radio access networks that closed on 1 March. Ofcom is currently considering the responses.

Broadband: North Shropshire

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent estimate she has made of when gigabit broadband coverage will be available to every household in North Shropshire constituency.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an estimate of the number of households that have access to gigabit broadband in North Shropshire constituency.

Julia Lopez: According to the independent website ThinkBroadband.com, almost 68% of premises in the North Shropshire constituency are able to access a gigabit-capable connection, up from just 3% in December 2019. To extend this coverage further, last year we signed a Project Gigabit contract with the supplier Freedom Fibre to deliver gigabit-capable connectivity to over 12,000 hard-to-reach premises in the North Shropshire region by the end of 2026, of which approximately 9,000 of these premises are in the North Shropshire constituency. There will also be further commercial rollout in the area. While the majority of premises will be covered by commercial activity or Project Gigabit, for those parts of the UK where this is not possible, the government is considering alternative ways to improve connectivity. Last year, government launched a consultation setting out our proposed policy approach to connecting Very Hard to Reach (VHTR) UK premises, with a response due to be published later this year. The response will set out further policy proposals for VHTR areas not already covered by commercial activity or existing government schemes.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Public Expenditure

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to respond to the recommendations of the independent report entitled Reforming the DSIT business case process, published by her Department on 9 February 2024.

Andrew Griffith: The Government welcomes David Willetts’ report and is considering the recommendations, including options for implementation. We are planning to publish a response before the end of April.

Research: Overseas Investment

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps steps her Department is taking to help incentive overseas investment in research and development businesses based in the UK.

Andrew Griffith: The UK is a highly attractive destination for inward investment in R&D with a world-class research and skills base. Foreign direct investors have invested over £2 trillion in the UK, the UK’s FDI stock has more than doubled over the last 10 years showing the confidence multinationals have in the UK as place to do business (ONS). Through the Science and Technology framework my department is working to improve all aspects of the R&D ecosystem in the UK to support both domestic and international businesses to invest in R&D.

Research: Public Sector

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to to help improve the performance of public sector research establishments.

Andrew Griffith: Public sector research establishments are diverse organisations that deliver science and research for public good, often playing a vital role in critical infrastructure and public safety. The Government’s response, published in November 2023, to the Independent Review of the UK’s Research, Development and Innovation Organisational Landscape sets out ambitious commitments to support PSREs to maximise their capabilities and performance. Commitments include raising awareness of PSREs, reducing barriers for collaborative working across PSREs and understanding challenges within recruitment and retention for PSREs. This work is underway, and progress will be reported through the Science and Technology Framework implementation plans.

Broadband: Road Works

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the impact of trials of flexible permitting for streetworks on supporting the rollout of gigabit-capable broadband.

Julia Lopez: The Government will shortly be trialling a more flexible permitting system, which would grant permission to work in multiple streets - as opposed to the current system which requires statutory undertakers to submit a separate permit for every street they work in. This would allow companies carrying out works to move from street to street quickly. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is working with the Department for Transport to trial this concept across England. DSIT have appointed an independent contractor to design, oversee and evaluate the trials, which we expect to commence in the second quarter of 2024. Once trials have concluded, Ministers will consider the results of the evaluation, and decide whether a flexible permitting scheme should be introduced.

Voice Over Internet Protocol: Telemedicine

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department is monitoring how many retrospective checks have been conducted on forcibly migrated households to investigate if they had telecare devices.

Julia Lopez: It is the Government’s utmost priority that vulnerable people and telecare users are protected throughout the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) migration. In December 2023, the UK’s major Communication Providers agreed to sign a PSTN Charter, committing to improve protections for vulnerable customers. The Charter can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-switched-telephone-network-charter/public-switched-telephone-network-charter As set out in the PSTN Charter, Communication Providers have agreed to conduct additional checks on customers who have already been forcibly migrated. This is with a view to ensuring that the customers do not have telecare devices that providers were unaware of, and if they do, to ensure that the correct support is provided to them. The Government will be monitoring the Communication Providers’ adherence to the Charter through bilateral meetings and through asking the companies for written updates on their approach to the migration.

Voice Over Internet Protocol: Power Failures

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she plans to take to help ensure (a) energy companies and (b) network operators can contact consumers on the Energy Priority Services Register during a power cut once the digital switchover is complete.

Julia Lopez: DSIT is engaging with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to ensure robust measures are in place to mitigate any risks arising from the Public Switched Telephone (PSTN) switchover in the energy sector. The details regarding contingency plans and consumer prioritisation in the energy sector falls within DESNZ’s remit. DSIT works closely on a range of resilience issues in partnership with industry, through the Electronic Communications Resilience & Response Group (EC-RRG), who engage in regular dialogue with the Energy Networks Association across a range of issues to help strengthen resilience between the telecoms and energy sectors. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) also recently consulted on proposals to establish a multi-sector Priority Services Register to enable better data sharing between providers of gas, water, electricity, and telecoms providers, and allow consumers to be registered as vulnerable across sectors. The consultation closed in January 2024, with a response expected in due course.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Labour Turnover

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many staff left his Department in each year since 2015.

Mr Steve Baker: The table below summarises the published Civil Service Statistics which includes the number of civil servants who have left the Northern Ireland Office since 2015.The Cabinet Office has recently launched the new Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027, which demonstrates our commitment to developing and retaining the key skills the Civil Service needs, both now and in the future. Total Annual Leavers at 31st March of: 2015020161020170201820201920202020202110202220202310Total:110

Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he is taking steps to prepare for potential legal challenges to the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 after the commencement of part 3 of that Act.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Challenges against the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 have been heard in the High Court in Northern Ireland. The Government welcomes the Court’s findings that the ICRIR is operationally independent from Government and has the necessary powers to carry out reviews in accordance with the state’s obligations with Articles 2 and 3 of the ECHR. However, following consideration of all aspects of the judgment, the UK Government has lodged an application for an appeal with the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal. We remain committed to implementing the Legacy Act and delivering the ICRIR to provide better outcomes for victims and survivors of the Troubles by giving them more information about what happened to their loved ones.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Public Expenditure

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the cost to the public purse was of (a) staff and (b) running costs for his Department in financial year 2023-24; and how much he has allocated for 2024-25.

Mr Alister Jack: The Scotland Office and Office for the Advocate General are currently in the process of finalising the department’s figures for financial year 2023-24. These figures are subject to external audit and the department’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2023-24 are expected to be available later this year. The budget for the department for financial year 2024-25 as agreed in Spending Review 2021 is £13.354m.

Scotland Office: Public Expenditure

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the administration costs of his Department were in each year since his appointment.

Mr Alister Jack: The Scotland Office and Office for the Advocate General publish an Annual Report and Accounts which contains the information requested. The latest version can be found at Scotland Office Annual Report 2022-23. Prior year Annual Reports and Accounts for the Scotland Office and Office for the Advocate General are available online or can be obtained from the Library of the House.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Labour Turnover

Julian Knight: To ask the Attorney General, how many staff left his Department in each year since 2015.

Julian Knight: To ask the Attorney General, how many staff left the Crown Prosecution Service in each year since 2015.

Julian Knight: To ask the Attorney General, how many staff left the Government Legal Department in each year since 2015.

Julian Knight: To ask the Attorney General, how many staff left the Serious Fraud Office in each year since 2015.

Julian Knight: To ask the Attorney General, how many staff left HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate in each year since 2015.

Robert Courts: Data on leavers in the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) and the Law Officers’ Departments (the Crown Prosecution Service, Government Legal Department, Serious Fraud Office, and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate) for the financial year 2023/24 is expected to be published at the end of July 2024.Data on leavers in the AGO and the Law Officers’ Departments for previous years is published by the Cabinet Office in data tables which accompany the annual Civil Service statistics bulletin. These can be accessed at: Civil Service statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).